Tasmania’s energy crisis gave Minister Groom an incredible opportunity to show leadership and guide Tasmanians through a very difficult time. Instead, figures revealed today have shown it to be a $64 million missed opportunity.
Hydro Tasmania has told a parliamentary inquiry that Minister Groom’s handling of the energy crisis will cost Tasmanians up to $180 million. Despite using the Minister’s diesel generators for just a few weeks and generating a tiny amount of electricity, the cost of hiring, installing and running them came to $64 million.
The failure of Minister Groom to take a leading role has come with a huge price tag for Tasmanians. The $64 million spent on barely used diesel generators is taxpayer money that could have been used to finance long lasting renewable energy reform.
That $64 million represents the installation of over 11,000 3Kw photovoltaic systems. The total cost of a fair feed-in-tariff over the next four years would cost $15 million, create hundreds of jobs, and install 23,000 rooftop solar systems.
All Tasmanians will remember seeing lights streaming from government offices in the middle of the night despite the fact no one was there. Although every day was an opportunity to look at energy savings across government and businesses, the Minister refused to do this.
Almost half of the energy used in Tasmania during the energy crisis was in the residential, business and government sector. Some costs were unavoidable, but the Minister wouldn’t work with Councils to find energy savings in public spaces, or to give practical assistance to small business and households about energy efficiency measures and savings.
