After years of cuts, Victorians with solar panels will see an increase in what they are paid for the energy they feed into the power grid.
State regulator the Essential Services Commission announced the minimum tariff for excess electricity generated by households would more than double from 5 to 11.3¢ per kilowatt hour.
More Victoria News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:01
Melbourne trams to run on solar power
Melbourne trams to run on solar power
Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D'Ambrosio says Melbourne's more than 400 trams will be powered by Victoria's first large-scale solar plant, set to be built by the end of 2018.
Up Next
South Yarra station could go underground
- Video duration
- 01:02
- Video duration
- 01:02
South Yarra station could go underground
South Yarra station could go underground
The State Government has asked three consortiums bidding for Melbourne's Metro Rail project to ensure their plans would allow for South Yarra station to be developed in the future.
Up Next
Melbourne's 'Offal' lot of traffic
- Video duration
- 01:00
- Video duration
- 01:00
Melbourne's 'Offal' lot of traffic
Melbourne's 'Offal' lot of traffic
Entrails littered the road and held up traffic just before peak hour on Wednesday afternoon.
Up Next
Giant spider crab migration begins
- Video duration
- 00:59
- Video duration
- 00:59
Giant spider crab migration begins
Giant spider crab migration begins
Thousands of giant spider crabs have begun their migration to the shallow waters of Port Phillip Bay early this year.
Up Next
Builder jailed for torching pub
- Video duration
- 00:29
- Video duration
- 00:29
Builder jailed for torching pub
Builder jailed for torching pub
A builder who set fire to a hotel part-owned by Dane Swan because he ran out of time for renovations has been jailed for five years. Vision: Ten News
Up Next
Inside Melbourne's taxi protest
- Video duration
- 01:37
- Video duration
- 01:37
Inside Melbourne's taxi protest
Inside Melbourne's taxi protest
Why taxi licence owners and their supporters disrupted Monday morning's peak hour traffic.
Up Next
Melbourne to get 17 new suburbs
- Video duration
- 00:39
- Video duration
- 00:39
Melbourne to get 17 new suburbs
Melbourne to get 17 new suburbs
Announcing 17 new suburbs and 100,000 new plots, the state government puts plans in place to battle the housing shortage. Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne
Up Next
Drug raids in Melbourne's North West
- Video duration
- 00:25
- Video duration
- 00:25
Drug raids in Melbourne's North West
Drug raids in Melbourne's North West
With alleged connections to an international drug syndicate, four men and one woman have been arrested in drug raids in Melbourne. Vision: Ten News
Melbourne trams to run on solar power
Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D'Ambrosio says Melbourne's more than 400 trams will be powered by Victoria's first large-scale solar plant, set to be built by the end of 2018.
The rise, which takes effect from July 1, was said to reflect both the rise in wholesale power prices and the environmental and social value of clean energy.
It followsÂ?a series of reductions in solar feed-in-tariffs across the country as installation rates dwarfedÂ?expectations and the price of panels fell markedly.
In Victoria, the tariff fell from 60¢�per kilowatt hour in 2009 to 25¢ cents in 2011. It was later cut to between 5¢ and 7¢, using a formula calculated annually.
While early movers remain on the premium 60¢ rate until 2024, the Andrews government said the new tariff�would benefit everyone else with solar – about 130,000 households.
Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio​ said the new tariff would ensure solar households were compensated more fairly for power sold to the grid.
She said the Coalition had cut the rate to 5¢ per kilowatt hour and voted against legislative changes last year designed to better reflect the value of energy fed into the grid.
"We promised a fairer system and that's exactly what we have delivered," Ms D'Ambrosio said.
Opposition energy spokesman David Southwick​�said�the increase was a much greater rise than flagged by the government last year, and accused it of trying to woo Greens voters.
He estimated it would increase power bills forÂ?non-solar households by $15.75 a year, and cited Grattan Institute researchÂ?that in 2015Â?found Australians without solar panels had effectively paid $14 billion to subsidise those with them.
"The future of solar is through battery storage and community distribution, not making non-solar customers pay higher energy bills," Mr Southwick said.
Greens leader Greg Barber said the increase was not enough given electricity retailers charged�about 30¢ per kilowatt hour for power from the grid. "What's being offering is still a rip-off," he said.
Alternative Technology Association policy and research manager Damien Moyse​�said it was heartening to have a government that was serious about renewable energy.
"Solar households and businesses across Australia provide greater value into the national electricity market than the narrow methodology used to calculate feed-in tariffs up until now," he said.
Environment Victoria campaigns manager Nick Aberle​ said there had never been a better time to install solar panels.