The Clean Energy Council wants you – the average voting Aussie – to send a clear clean energy message to Canberra before the federal election in May. The biggest advocate for the renewable energy sector believes that the country is at a crossroads and wants the electorate to decide the route (as long as it’s to strong clean energy policies).
The CEC wants all of the parties to adopt its policy recommendations and is asking voters to encourage them by emailing MPs and sharing tiles on social media.
What the CEC wants
The CEC wants a firm commitment from the government to zero-carbon emissions by 2050 and 50% renewables by 2030.
It also wants to keep the government’s Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme as it reduces the cost of rooftop solar. At present, the discounts are reducing year by yearand will reach zero by 2030.
Other recommendations include:
- the promotion of battery storage for homes and businesses;
- the mandatory inclusion of solar in newbuilds;
- the support of innovation in tech, finance and integration;
- the development of a clean energy export strategy;
- the support of skills development and training to meet the growing industry’s demands;
- the support for a battery manufacturing and recycling sector, and
- the development of a single national body for electrical safety.
Email your MP to ask for clean energy
The CEC’s website has a widget to help you find your local MP and use the pre-written message if you’re not 100% sure about what to say. You can also download the Council’s policy booklet and social media tiles from there too.
Solar for remote areas
The CEC is also asking network providers to be allowed to build and install microgrids for the more remote areas of Oz. At present, National Electricity Rules prohibit network service providers from providing power to users from microgrid or off-grid generators.Using microgrid is cheaper than building the infrastructure and powerlines out to remote areas, so what’s not to like.
