Leading solar industry supplier Carbon Management Solutions, which topped SmartCompany’s Smart50 awards in September, has already been forced to cut staff numbers following the decision by the New South Wales Government to slash the amount households receive when they sell solar power back into the electricity grid.
Amber Ferguson, co-founder of the New South Wales solar wholesale group, says the decision to cut the solar tariff from 60c to 20c per kilowatt-hour took them by surprise and the company has already been forced to let two staff go.
“If the calls aren’t going to be coming in for enquiries, then there’s really no point in having extra staff. It potentially could be a very serious problem for us,” she says.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens. The information is coming through from the Government now about this transition period, and so it’s going to be an interesting few days.”
New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally argued the move was being made due to the popularity of the scheme, given that solar panels have actually decreased in price over the past year. But Ferguson says customers have been extremely disappointed.
“Customers have bought panels under the impression they would be getting the old tariff price, so it’s very frustrating for them,” she says.
However, she also argues the company is in no danger of going under and will be waiting for the next batch of government assistance.
“There will be some companies which will be affected. There are many people who have been hired thinking they’re going into the right industry, and then these changes are made. It’s very frustrating for them, but there is always more assistance on the way and we will survive.”
A spokesperson for Solar Shop also says the decision is extremely frustrating, given customers have purchased panels believing the tariff to be at a certain rate.
“We were massively affected by this. We had people calling up our call centre for hours, and there were many people who had purchased panels believing that they were being given the best rate,” the spokesperson said.
“But while there have been changes, there are always changes in this industry. There will be a dampening of the market – but we do expect it to pick up next year. However, for smaller companies, they may suffer because they are not as well positioned.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is considering compensation for the thousands of independent contractors who were trained under the bungled Green Loans scheme earlier this year. The matter comes after the Senate released a report last week, revealing the scheme suffered from problems including poor administration, quality control issues and accusations of rorting.
Aaron Nielsen, who is leading a compensation claim for about 100 contractors, says he is waiting for an update on whether his group will receive compensation in the order of about $1.25 million. However, he also says if compensation were given to the 5000 or so contractors in his position, compensation could reach well over $16 million.
“I was one of the thousands of people trained for the Green Loans program, but they put a cap on assessors and I was never able to get a contract,” he says. “So I put in a claim for compensation. The Government is considering it, and hopefully there should be some sort of update in the next couple of days.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
