ACT Tells Coalition to Get Their Story Straight Regarding Renewable Energy

Simon Corbell, the Australian Capital Territory deputy chief minister has urged the Turnbull government to get its story straight on renewable energy targets before the special meeting of energy ministers convened after power blackouts in South Australia according to The Guardian.

Corbell said the ex-federal government minister Greg Hunt, had clearly urged the states to adopt reverse auctions following the model developed successfully in the ACT to increase the usage of renewable energy.

Hunt said in Paris, The federal government was not recommending a change to the national renewable energy target, but he has encouraged the states that if they wanted to do something extra, they should apply reverse auctions to the renewable energy target in the way the ACT has done.

Corbell said that the government had unexpectedly switched course which raised concerns about the state-based renewable energy schemes after the South Australian power outage. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull linked the South Australian blackout to the state’s use of renewable energy. He called it a wakeup call for state leaders who were trying to hit completely unrealistic renewable targets.

Corbell said that the Liberals in the ACT had overcome their initial resistance to the scheme and now have come to their view that renewable is very popular and works to create jobs in the region.

The South Australian government has already signaled that in the coming meeting they will canvas whether there should be a national emission intensity trading scheme for the electricity sector. This will also open the debate on carbon pricing.

Corbell said the ACT was open to talks about the new emissions intensity scheme, but that any trading scheme would need to complement the state-based renewable energy targets and not totally replace them.

Click here to read the full story on The Guardian

Featured Image Credit:The Guardian