According to the Clean Energy Council (CEC), over 15,000 Australian businesses have installed solar power to save on their energy bills.
According to Kane Thornton, the Council’s acting CEO these businesses, ranging from farmers to wineries, offices and supermarkets, have invested almost $460 million in solar systems. This in turn will save these businesses about $64 million on their energy bills every year.
Mr Thornton stated that current support provided by the Renewable Energy Target (RET) enables solar power to help businesses become more competitive in tough economic times.
Mr Thornton also stated that if the federal government decides to cut the RET, it would mean that it would be harder for businesses to go solar in the future due to the extensive amount of paperwork involved. He also stated that if the RET was cut, it would result in the loss of up to 5800 jobs.
The RET has been in operation since 2001 and was revised in 2010 with the aim of having 20 percent of Australia’s power generated by renewable resources by 2020.
The recommendations of the review into the RET will be discussed by energy experts today at the Economic Policy Analysis Program series in Brisbane.
The image accompanying this story is via Pixabay.