Announcing the scheme last year the energy minister, Chris Bowen, said the regulated energy deal would unlock the benefits of cheap and plentiful renewable energy for more households, including those without solar panels or a battery. It was a regulated offer, he said, overseen by the Australian Energy<\/a> Regulator to \u201censure there\u2019s no price gouging going on, it\u2019s in the best interests of the consumers\u201d.<\/p>\n However, Gavin Gilchrist, a project manager at Inner West Community Energy, said in his part of Sydney, the supply and peak use charges on Solar Sharer were \u201cmuch, much higher\u201d, and in some cases nearly double the rate of other market offers.<\/p>\n Gilchrist spent weeks comparing Solar Sharer with multiple energy offers from major retailers \u2013 AGL, Energy Australia, Origin and Red Energy \u2013 using the government\u2019s Energy Made Easy website, publishing the results<\/a> in RenewEconomy.<\/p>\n For example, households with one retailer would pay $1.76 in daily supply charges on Solar Sharer on the Ausgrid network, but $0.95 on another plan with the same company. Outside the free power period, the peak rate on Solar Sharer was \u201calmost twice\u201d the rate of the other plan: $0.64 versus $0.33 per kilowatt hour.<\/p>\n Given those rates, he said, most people \u2013 especially renters and apartment dwellers, at whom the scheme was aimed \u2013 would struggle to get enough value during the free period to come out on top.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not saying no one can benefit, but you\u2019d have to work very hard to get a benefit from Solar Sharer given the price of electricity outside the three free hours is so much higher, and the daily supply charge is so much higher,\u201d Gilchrist said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was a really good idea to encourage people to use electricity in the middle of the day, when we have a glut of electricity on the market, has turned into a fiasco that means virtually no one will benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n Energy Consumers Australia said the design of the scheme forced consumers to make a \u201ccomplex trade off between free energy in the day and higher prices in all other periods\u201d and some could be worse off if they switch<\/a>.<\/p>\n Solar Sharer is a regulated plan with parameters set by the Australian Energy Regulator, but a spokesperson for Bowen said it was \u201cup to retailers to explain why they don\u2019t want to pass on the benefits of free electricity to the consumers who can take it up\u201d.<\/p>\n
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