“….The difficulty with the Renewable Energy Target is that few people understand it, and the people who do are usually the one’s making money off it. It’s a classic case of diffused costs and distributed benefits. The average person simply doesn’t have the incentive to understand the RET in any detail; by the time the average person discovers the true impact of the policy their electricity bill has already skyrocketed and it’s too late.
After all, who doesn’t like renewable energy? It’s clean, it’s green and it’s saving the planet. What’s not to like? Surely, there’s nothing wrong with having a target? Few people bother to ask: How does the Renewable Energy Target work? Is a massive investment in renewable energy the most effective way of Australia reducing its greenhouse gas emissions? Or even, What’s the true cost of replacing Australia’s electricity generation capacity with renewables? These are questions that the renewable energy swindlers don’t want you to ask.
The renewable energy swindle, like all good swindles has multiple parts. First, for over a decade state governments subsidised the initial cost of solar panels. Second, many state governments guaranteed a fixed feed-in tariff rate that was well above market rates, and third, the Renewable Energy Target created an artificial demand for the electricity generated from small scale solar. The effect of of these three policies was a massive energy subsidy for wealthy individuals with solar paid for by consumers buying their electricity through the grid.
Even if one is convinced by the need to take action on climate change, the Renewable Energy Target is a poor tool for the job; it’s extremely expensive, unjust and distorting to the economy. It’s time to put an end to the swindle and abolish the Renewable Energy Target….” The Great Renewable Energy Swindle