The Greens want to offer Australians grants of up to $10,000 and loans of $50,000 to install solar batteries.It’s part of a $17 billion plan to help households and businesses transition from gas to clean energy, announced as part of their federal election campaign.
The Greens are unveiling the plan in Brisbane during the second week of the federal election campaign, where they are targeting a handful of inner-city seats held by the Coalition and Labor.
The debate over energy prices have featured early in the campaign, with the Coalition claiming Labor’s “Re-Wiring the Nation” policy would push up household energy prices.
The Labor plan would upgrade electricity infrastructure to accommodate the influx of renewable energy with a combined investment of $20 billion from the Commonwealth and more than $50 billion from the sector.
Under the plan by the Greens, home and business owners would also be able to apply for grants of up to $25,000 and loans of up to $100,000 to move away from gas power to electricity.
Catch up on all the news about the 2022 Australian federal election from April 22 in our blog The party said the subsidies were aimed at supporting investment in the local battery-manufacturing industry.
Let’s break down the climate change policies of the major parties: Coalition, Labor and Greens. Red background with photo of the earth outlined in black. Clouds floating across front. Batteries can help solar users store energy to use during peak periods, allowing them to save money on electricity prices.
However, batteries are expensive: A 13kWh battery — the average Australian household uses around 18kWh per day can cost $12,000 or more. Meanwhile, states are moving to gain more control over rooftop solar panels as increasing installations threaten to overload the grid at certain times.
Western Australia in February joined South Australia in having the authority to turn off household solar systems at times when the electricity network is deemed to be under severe stress.
The Greens say their plan has been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office. And the party points to a report by the Climate Council, published last year, that estimated cooking with gas was responsible for around 12 per cent of the “burden of childhood asthma” and was comparable to household cigarette smoke.
The Greens have also proposed a publicly owned, non-profit electricity retailer, the repurposed retail division of Snowy Hydro, Power Australia, to supply businesses power at cost price. It said the move would aim to promote competition in the energy sector, driving down the costs of private energy providers.
Climate change — along with the cost of living and the economy — are some of the most important issues to Australians this election, More Australians mentioned climate change as their number one issue than any other topic, with 29 per cent of people saying it was important.
But there’s a large split along party voting lines when it comes to climate change being the top issue. That was held by only 8 per cent of Coalition voters, compared to 30 per cent of Labor voters and 50 per cent of people who are likely to vote for The Green.
Source: This news is originally published by abc