Minimum retailer solar feed-in tariff 2015-2016

Status

Current status is Final

Final

The Commission has released its final decision in respect of the minimum retailer feed-in tariff payable from 1 January 2015 by electricity retailers to customers with solar photovoltaic units, for electricity fed into the distribution network from those units.

The Commission’s final decision is that it will make a further two-year price determination setting the minimum retailer feed-in tariff at 5.3 cents per kWh. The minimum amount fixed by the Commission is at the lower end of the reasonable range of fair and reasonable value to an electricity retailer of electricity fed-in to the distribution network. The value of R-FiT reflects the reduction in the forecast wholesale cost of electricity. From 1 January 2015, all electricity retailers are required to pay at least that minimum retailer feed-in tariff amount to PV customers for electricity exported into the distribution network, although they may offer higher amounts.

Further,the Commission will review the forecast value of the R-FiT to apply from 1 January 2016 and, if the forecast value lies on or within ±10% of 5.3 cents per kWh, the Commission will leave that value unchanged. If the forecast value lies outside of that range, the forecast value will apply during 2016.

Although the signs of competition for solar PV customers are encouraging, a further period of setting a minimum R-FiT and monitoring is considered appropriate, to be confident that no consumer detriment would occur from deregulation. Therefore, the Commission considers that it is still appropriate to continue regulating the minimum R-FiT for a further two years. Doing so will provide the market with further stability and time to absorb the changes arising from the deregulation of the energy markets, the transition to the National Electricity Retail Law (NERL), the National Energy Customer Framework (NECF) and the Commission’s changes in setting the R-FiT. It will also provide the Commission with the opportunity to collect further evidence about the potential costs and benefits to PV customers, and energy customers more generally, of deregulating the R-FiT.