Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/10/12/greenpeace-nz-delivers-a-solar.html
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the post and article doesn’t mention how much this tax would be. In my area my water and gas are charged by the CCF and i pay a flat ‘service fee’ of $39. this is to cover infrastucture and maintence. i think this is a fair charge as getting a well and separate septic system is not feasible as i live in a large metropolitan area. if you are using any electricity from a provider i don’t find it unreasonable to pay a service fee as well. the nice thing about electricity is you can store it and go completely off grid if you find the charge unreasonable
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Electricity providers have to recoup the fixed costs of providing the network and the variable costs of power generation in order to survive. Billing structure is always an approximation of the highly volatile reality. As consumption reduces due to higher charges or increased efficiency (or environmental awareness), the fixed costs that were amortised by the old consumption rates become a larger proportion of the cost base, whether reflected as a connection charge, or included as part of the $/kwh charges. If they move the costs to the connection charge, people are immediately incentivised to go off-grid but not to reduce consumption if they stay on grid. Result, fewer consumers. If they leave fixed charges as part of the $/kwh charges, the higher unit charges incentivise people to reduce consumption (or partly generate their own), leaving the fixed costs as an ever larger proportion. Either way, it’s a death spiral as eventually even the subsidised fixed cost is no-longer worth it for the consumer and more go “off-grid” as a rational response. This sheds more fixed costs onto the still-connected and the cycle repeats. It’s a death spiral that should be allowed to happen, but the risk is that the poorest people are stuck until the end, paying ludicrous rates for power, as the rich move off-grid first.
Yeah, it is not a tax, but a fixed connection fee levied by the utility.
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i wish i knew how much it was.
“In a move clearly aimed at stalling the growth of solar PV, Unison has created a new tariff category for distributed-generation (DG). The new structure includes an increased fixed daily charge of over 50% for those who consume >8000kWh/yr. For customers who use less than 8,000 kWh/yr, there are increases in consumption charges with the cost/kWh increasing 25-30%, plan dependent. Added to these prices will be the additional cost of implementing the new pricing by retailers which are yet to be revealed.”
Best I could find.
Tax is fine IF 100% of it goes to developing sustainable power for every building in NZ…
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