Revamped home battery scheme both a broken promise and an admission of failure

The State Government’s revamp of their original home battery scheme, announced prior to the March election, represents both a broken promise and another admission of their mismanagement of the energy portfolio.

Shadow Energy Minister Dr Steve Thomas said when the State Government announced their new home battery election commitment in February, they promised subsidies of up to $5,000 for Synergy customers and $7,500 for regional Horizon customers.

“It has now been revealed that the state contribution has been cut to $1,300 – down from the original promise of $5,000 for Synergy customers and $7,500 for regional Horizon customers – but will be topped up to $5,000 by the Federal Government scheme,” he said

“This is obviously an attempt by the state to hide the problems, despite industry having already been informed that the initial state and federal grants could be sought concurrently to a total maximum of $8,000.

“The plan fell apart almost immediately when the scheme, which did not start until July 1, was massively oversubscribed with expressions of interest months before it opened.

“This led to battery installers being inundated with cancellations from March to the end of June as consumers wanted to cash in on the new grants available.

“The industry was also hit by the poor design of the state scheme, which limited the roll out to 2,000 units a month, up to a total of 20,000 units, creating a limited number of potential grants to suppliers each month.

“That 2,000 unit a month cap is well below existing installation rates, meaning companies will be forced to install some units with subsidies and others without, in a market where every customer expected a rebate.

“The industry was telling me the State Government policy was creating chaos, and some installers were already warning they would not survive. For the State Government to be blaming them for this outcome is a joke.”

Dr Thomas said the changes wrought by the State Government yesterday were an admission of failure of the scheme they took to the election.

“Capping the scheme as they did set it up for failure before it started, so the Cook Government has now used the federal scheme to hide their shortcomings,” he said.