Scoping paper Solar feed-in tariff report 2016 17 July 2017
Queensland Competition Authority 2017 The Queensland Competition Authority supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of information. However, copyright protects this document. The Queensland Competition Authority has no objection to this material being reproduced, made available online or electronically but only if it is recognised as the owner of the copyright 2 and this material remains unaltered.
Contents SUBMISSIONS Closing date for submissions: 7 August 2017 Public involvement is an important element of the decision-making processes of the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA). Therefore, submissions are invited from interested parties concerning our scoping paper for reporting on solar feed-in tariffs offered in south east Queensland. The QCA will consider all submissions received. Submissions, comments or inquiries regarding this scoping paper should be directed to: Queensland Competition Authority GPO Box 2257 Brisbane Q 4001 Tel (07) 3222 0555 Fax (07) 3222 0599 www.qca.org.au/submissions Confidentiality In the interests of transparency and to promote informed discussion and consultation, the QCA intends to make all submissions publicly available. However, if a person making a submission believes that information in the submission is confidential, that person should claim confidentiality in respect of the document (or the relevant part of the document) at the time the submission is given to the QCA and state the basis for the confidentiality claim. The assessment of confidentiality claims will be made by the QCA in accordance with the Queensland Competition Authority Act 1997, including an assessment of whether disclosure of the information would damage the person s commercial activities and considerations of the public interest. Claims for confidentiality should be clearly noted on the front page of the submission. The relevant sections of the submission should also be marked as confidential, so that the remainder of the document can be made publicly available. It would also be appreciated if two versions of the submission (i.e. a complete version and another excising confidential information) could be provided. A confidentiality claim template is available on request. We encourage stakeholders to use this template when making confidentiality claims. The confidentiality claim template provides guidance on the type of information that would assist our assessment of claims for confidentiality. Public access to submissions Subject to any confidentiality constraints, submissions will be available for public inspection at the Brisbane office, or on the website at www.qca.org.au. If you experience any difficulty gaining access to documents please contact us on (07) 3222 0555. i
Contents Contents SUBMISSIONS Closing date for submissions: 7 August 2017 Confidentiality Public access to submissions THE ROLE OF THE QCA TASK, TIMING AND CONTACTS I i i i III 1 SCOPING PAPER 1 1.1 Solar feed-in tariffs 1 1.2 What the QCA will report on 2 1.3 Data sources 3 1.4 Stakeholder feedback 4 2 RETAILER FEED-IN TARIFF OFFERS 5 2.1 Comparison of the lowest, highest and average feed-in tariffs between retailers 5 2.2 Trends in relation to retailers' feed in tariffs in and between the reporting period and previous tariff years 5 2.3 Any comment on the emergence of new and/or innovative FiT structures 7 3 RETAILER MARKET OFFERS 8 3.1 Variations to retailers' generally available market offer prices that are offered in conjunction with a FiT 8 3.2 Comparison and ranking of the net overall bill position from generally available market offers, considering electricity charges and FiTs 10 GLOSSARY 14 APPENDIX A : MINISTER'S DIRECTION NOTICE 15 ii
The Role of the QCA Task, Timing and Contacts THE ROLE OF THE QCA TASK, TIMING AND CONTACTS The Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) is an independent statutory body, which promotes competition as the basis for enhancing efficiency and growth in the Queensland economy. In accordance with section 253AA of the Electricity Act 1994, the QCA has been directed by the Minister for Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply to monitor, and provide a written report on solar feed-in tariffs in the Energex distribution area (see Appendix A of this paper). Key dates The QCA's indicative timetable for the solar feed-in tariff report for 2016 17 is shown below. Scoping paper released 13 July 2017 Submissions on the scoping paper due 7 August 2017 Report provided to the Minister for Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply and published on the QCA website No later than 31 October 2017 Registration of interest You can register your interest in the solar feed-in tariff report by subscribing to the QCA's electricity alerts at www.qca.org.au/subscribe. Contacts Enquiries regarding this project should be directed to: ATTN: Adam Liddy www.qca.org.au/contact-us iii
Scoping paper 1 SCOPING PAPER This scoping paper explains how we propose to report on solar Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) that retailers have offered to small customers 1 in south east Queensland (SEQ) with solar photovoltaic (solar PV) systems. We seek feedback on the information we propose to include in our report and how we propose to present it. Section 1.4 explains how you can provide feedback. 1.1 Solar feed-in tariffs Solar PV systems generate electricity for the owner's home or business. If solar panels produce more electricity than the premises is using, the surplus electricity is exported (or 'fed-in') to the electricity network. FiTs are the prices that the retailers pay to solar PV system owners (solar customers) for these exports. Figure 1 illustrates how a simple solar installation works. Figure 1 Solar PV system Source: Guide to installing solar for households, Clean Energy Council. Most retailers in SEQ pay solar customers a set number of cents for every kilowatt hour (c/kwh) that solar PV owners export into the network. Retailers make these payments because the electricity exported by solar customers is consumed by other electricity customers, which reduces the amount of electricity retailers must buy on the wholesale market. SEQ retailers set 1 The National Energy Retail Law, section 5, and National Energy Retail Regulations, section 7 define a small customer as a residential customer or a business customer which consumes less than 100 MWh per annum. 1
Scoping paper the amount they are willing to pay solar customers for their exports when competing for these customers. 2 When the premises is consuming more electricity than the solar system is generating, such as at night, the solar customer imports electricity from the grid. The FiT amounts solar customers receive offset the cost of these imports. 1.2 What the QCA will report on The Minister for Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply (the Minister) directed the QCA to monitor retailer FiT offers, as published on the Australian Energy Regulator's (AER) Energy Made Easy (EME) website. 3 The QCA must provide written annual reports on retailer solar FiT offers in the Energex distribution area (SEQ), the first of which must be published by 31 October 2017. The terms of reference (TOR) of the Minister's Direction requires the QCA to report on five matters: (1) A comparison of the lowest, highest and average FiTs between retailers. (2) Variations to retailers' generally available market offer prices that are offered in conjunction with a FiT, including variations to fixed and variable electricity charges. (3) A comparison and ranking of the net overall bill position from generally available market offers, considering electricity charges and FiTs. This analysis is to compare net bill outcomes for a range of different residential and small business electricity customers with solar PV systems, varying by total electricity consumption (e.g. a small, typical and large residential customer) and high medium and low solar export/use ratio. The analysis should include retail market offers with and without FiTs and specify the retailer for each offer. (4) Any trends in relation to retailers' FiTs in and between the reporting period and previous tariff years. (5) Any comment on the emergence of new and/or innovative FiT structures. 4 In simple terms, we must report on the FiTs retailers have offered solar customers for their exported electricity 5 and the associated prices retailers charged solar customers for imports. 6 Accordingly, we propose to report on solar FiTs under two broad headings: solar FiTs offered by retailers, which will incorporate the level, and structures, of solar FiTs retailers have offered and the way these have changed over time; and retailer market offers, which will incorporate the way market offer prices for solar customers have changed over time, and compare the net bill position for solar customers with a range of export and consumption levels. These two headings are discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 respectively. 2 In regional Queensland, where there is limited competition, the QCA sets the FiT rate. Find out more information on our website at http://www.qca.org.au/electricity/regional-consumers/solar-feed-in-tariffs- (1). 3 The Minister made the Direction under section 253AA of the Electricity Act 1994. Appendix A contains a copy of the Minister's Direction. 4 Minister's Direction. 5 Items 1, 4 and 5 of the TOR. 6 Items 2 and 3 of the TOR. 2
Scoping paper Solar Bonus Scheme Solar customers who applied for the Queensland Solar Bonus Scheme (SBS) before 10 July 2012 may also receive a subsidy paid through distributors in addition to a retailer FiT. 7 As the SBS is a government-funded FiT paid through distributors, all eligible customers receive this additional 44c/kWh regardless of their chosen retailer. While the Direction requires the QCA to report on retailers' FiT offers, analysis of these offers will still be of interest to solar customers receiving additional payments under the SBS. Should our analysis reveal any significant issues which may affect solar customers receiving payments under the SBS we propose to include commentary in our final report. 1.3 Data sources Retailer FiT and market offer data The Direction requires the QCA to report retailer FiT offers as published on the Australian Energy Regulator's (AER) Energy Made Easy (EME) website. 8 EME is an energy price comparison website developed by the AER to assist small customers to compare available standing and market offers. 9 Energy retailers are required to provide retail offer information in accordance with the AER's Retail Pricing Information Guidelines. 10 The QCA has obtained quarterly data 11 relating to retailer offers on the EME website, including solar FiT offered by retailers to residential and small business customers. This data includes standing and market offer data for the range of tariffs offered to small customers including flat rate, controlled load, and time-of-use tariffs. We propose to use the information obtained to produce the solar report. This database will also be used for the market monitoring project, which focuses on the wider retail market in SEQ. 12 We propose to present information in a consistent manner, as far as possible, in both reports. Consumption and solar export data Item 3 of the TOR requires the QCA to calculate net bill positions for solar customers with a range of export and consumption levels. We propose to base solar export and consumption data on metering information collected by Energex. We consider this the most appropriate data to use, as it is derived from the same dataset used to generate solar customer bills in SEQ. Stakeholders should note that we expect the typical consumption figures in the solar report to be different to those in the market monitoring report. As solar customers will consume electricity generated by their solar PV system, rather than import all electricity for their consumption, it is logical to expect that typical consumption figures based on solar customers will differ from figures used in the market monitoring report as these will be based on the wider SEQ population. 7 For more information on the SBS and eligibility see https://www.dews.qld.gov.au/electricity/solar/installing/benefits/solar-bonus-scheme. 8 https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/ 9 National Energy Retail Law, section 62. 10 National Energy Retail Law, section 24 11 Data has been obtained at the end of each quarter, that is 31 March (March quarter), 30 June (June quarter), 30 September (September quarter), and 31 December (December quarter). 12 You can find out more information on the market monitoring report on our website, http://www.qca.org.au/electricity/consumer/market-monitoring 3
Scoping paper 1.4 Stakeholder feedback This scoping paper outlines how we interpret the Direction, the information we propose to use in annual reports, and how we propose to present this information. We invite stakeholders to give us feedback, via submissions, on this proposed approach. We will consider the feedback in submissions along with market developments and data when we produce our solar reports. You can make a submission via our website, 13 before consultation period closes on 7 August 2017. We will publish all non-confidential submissions on our website. 13 http://www.qca.org.au/submissions 4
Retailer feed-in tariff offers 2 RETAILER FEED-IN TARIFF OFFERS We propose to provide information on solar FiTs offered by retailers to solar PV owners in SEQ in Chapter 2 of our solar report. This information will encompass items one, four and five of the TOR: 1 A comparison of the lowest, highest and average feed-in tariffs between retailers, 4 Any trends in relation to retailers' feed in tariffs in and between the reporting period and previous tariff years, and 5 Any comment on the emergence of new and/or innovative FiT structures. 14 2.1 Comparison of the lowest, highest and average feed-in tariffs between retailers Using data that the QCA has obtained from EME, 15 we propose to publish tables displaying the lowest, highest and average FiTs retailers offered customers. Retailer FiTs offered to residential and small business customers will be provided separately to enable stakeholders to more easily identify any differences between the offers made to different customer groups. Tables 1 and 2 are samples of what we propose to provide. These tables will also fulfil item 4 of the TOR, which is discussed in Section 2.2 of this scoping paper. We propose to base figures for each quarter on all offers in EME that include a FiT payment. As there is no averaging method specified in the Direction, we propose to use a simple average which we consider is the simplest and most practical approach. 2.2 Trends in relation to retailers' feed in tariffs in and between the reporting period and previous tariff years We propose to present a table of every retailer offering FiTs, and the FiT they offered small customers at the end of each quarter (see Tables 1 and 2 for examples of the tables we propose to provide). Where a retailer offers more than one FiT amount we propose to present the lowest and highest FiT offered to allow stakeholders to see the range of FiTs offered by the retailer. Where a retailer offers a FiT rate that cannot be reported as a single figure, or range of values, this will be discussed in the table notes and, where appropriate, discussed in the section on new FiT structures. 14 Minister's Direction TOR, p1 (see Appendix A) 15 Section 1.3 has more information on the QCA retail offer database. 5
Retailer feed-in tariff offers Table 1 FiT offered to residential customers in SEQ Retailer Residential FiT by quarter (c/kwh) 2015 2016 2016 2017 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Retailer 1 X X X X X X X X Retailer 2 X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y Retailer 3 X X X X X X Retailer 4 X X X X X X X X Retailer 5 X X X X X X X X Maximum X X X X X X X X Average X X X X X X X X Minimum X X X X X X X X Note: This table is for illustrative purposes only. Table 2 FiT offered to small business customers in SEQ Retailer Small business FiT by quarter (c/kwh) 2015 2016 2016 2017 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Retailer 1 X X X X X X X X Retailer 2 X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y X Y Retailer 3 X X X X X X Retailer 4 X X X X X X X X Retailer 5 X X X X X X X X Maximum X X X X X X X X Average X X X X X X X X Minimum X X X X X X X X Note: This table is for illustrative purposes only. We propose to provide general commentary based on the information in each table. This commentary may relate to the number of retailers offering FiTs that solar customers can choose from, the level and variations in the FiT payments offered by retailers, and differences between FiTs offered to small business customers compared to residential customers. 6
Retailer feed-in tariff offers 2.3 Any comment on the emergence of new and/or innovative FiT structures Item 5 of the TOR asks the QCA to comment on the emergence of 'new and/or innovative' 16 FiT structures retailers have offered solar PV owners during the reporting period. Historically, the majority of FiT offered to solar customers have been in the form of a simple single amount for each kwh exported to the network. The QCA will examine all FiT offers made during the reporting period and comment on retailer offers, if any, that have a FiT structure that differs from the historical norm. Consultation question (1) Will our proposed approaches allow us to compare the lowest, highest and average feed-in tariffs between retailers, report on trends in retailers' feed-in tariffs, and comment on the emergence of new and/or innovative FiT structures as required by items 1, 4, and 5 of the TOR? If not, how should the approaches change to do so? 16 Minister's Direction TOR, item 5, p. 1 (see Appendix A). 7
Retailer market offers 3 RETAILER MARKET OFFERS Items 2 and 3 of the terms of reference relate to the market offer prices retailers offered electricity customers with solar installations during the reporting period. These items are: 2 Variations to retailers' generally available market offer prices that are offered in conjunction with a FiT, including variations to fixed and variable electricity charges. 3 A comparison and ranking of the net overall bill position from generally available market offers, considering electricity charges and FiTs. This analysis is to compare net bill outcomes for a range of different residential and small business electricity customers with solar PV systems, varying by total electricity consumption (e.g. a small, typical and large residential customer) and high medium and low solar export/use ratio. The analysis should include retail market offers with and without FiTs and specify the retailer for each offer. 17 3.1 Variations to retailers' generally available market offer prices that are offered in conjunction with a FiT Item 2 of the Direction requires the QCA to report on 'retailers' generally available market offer prices' 18 for residential or small business solar customers for their imports of electricity, and any variations to these prices, including variations to fixed and variable electricity charges. What are market offer prices? Market offer prices are prices charged to customers on market offers for connecting to the network and importing electricity to their premises. Electricity retailers operating in SEQ offer customer retail services to residential and small business customers under either a standing offer, or a market offer. A standing offer consists of standing offer prices, set by the retailer, and a standard contract with terms and conditions that are specified in the National Energy Retail Rules (NERR). 19 Market offers differ from standing offers in that while market offers contain a minimum set of terms and conditions that are specified in the NERR, 20 they may also contain terms that are agreed between the retailer and the customer. 21 Common examples of these additional terms are: solar FiT amounts payable for exports cash rebates or discounts which are either guaranteed, or are conditional on customers meeting certain requirements (e.g., paying their bill by the due date) other non-monetary benefits such as frequent flyer points and gift cards fees, such as payment processing 22, late payment, or early termination 23 fees. 17 Minister's Direction TOR, p1 (see Appendix A) 18 Minister's Direction TOR, item 2, p1 (see Appendix A) 19 National Energy Retail Rules, rule 12 and schedule 1. 20 National Energy Retail Rules, rule 12 and schedule 1. 21 National Energy Retail Rules, rule 14. 22 The Competition and Consumer Act, part IVC, may prevent retailers from levying excessive payment processing fees on customers. 8
Retailer market offers We propose to present prices as an annual bill as we consider that would provide the most meaningful comparison between the prices under different market offers. This is because market offer prices offered in conjunction with a FiT will typically have four elements, each of which may impact different customers in different ways: (1) Fixed amount(s), generally charged per day the fixed charge varies from retailer to retailer and frequently covers infrastructure and metering costs associated with the electricity network and retail costs. (2) Variable amount(s) for imported electricity, generally charged on a c/kwh basis the type of charges solar customers will pay on a variable basis will depend on the type of retail tariff. Often solar customers pay a flat rate per kwh imported to the premises, but for some tariffs the rate per kwh may vary depending on when electricity is imported. 24 (3) discounts, fees and charges. (4) FiT amount(s), paid to solar owners for electricity exported to the network. These are the amounts discussed in Chapter 2. The impact of each element will vary according to each solar customer's level, and in some cases their pattern, of electricity exports and imports, as well as other factors such as payment methods and whether the customer pays their electricity bills on time. We propose to provide annual bill figures for the most common tariffs and combinations for typical, or median, solar customers. Where a market offer contains additional fees and charges we propose to treat these as they will be treated in the SEQ retail electricity market monitoring report. 25 Stakeholders should note that the annual bill amounts presented in the solar report may differ from the market monitoring report as the 'typical' customer figures used in the solar report will be based on solar customers only. We propose to present summary tables of each retailer's highest and lowest market offers for each quarter. We will produce separate tables for each of the most common tariffs and combinations. Table 3 is an example of the type of table we propose to present in the solar report. In addition to the summary tables, we propose to provide a spreadsheet of market offers made in conjunction with a retailer solar FiT. This spreadsheet will include quarterly data on all fixed and variable charges. 23 An early termination fee must be a reasonable estimate of the retailer's costs resulting from early termination, and the manner of calculating the fee must be detailed in the contract (National Energy Retail Rules, rule 49A). 24 Some customers may also pay charges determined on their level of demand. However, as these offers are not present on EME they are outside the scope of the Minister's Direction. 25 See Chapter 2 of our scoping paper, SEQ retail electricity market monitoring 2016 17, October 2016 for more information on fees and charges. 9
Retailer market offers Table 3 Typical SEQ solar customer bills (flat rate residential tariff) Retailer 2016 17 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Retailer 1 $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX Retailer 2 $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX Retailer 3 $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX Retailer 4 $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX Retailer 5 $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX $XXXX Note: This table is for illustrative purposes only. Separate tables would be produced for the most common tariffs and combinations. We propose to provide general commentary based on the information in our analysis. This may include information such as which retailers are providing the cheapest offers, and how market offers have varied during the reporting period. Consultation question (2) Will our proposed approach allow us to report on variations in retailers' generally available market offer prices that are offered in conjunction with a FiT, including variations to fixed and variable electricity charges, as required by item 2 of the TOR? If not, how should the approach change to do so? 3.2 Comparison and ranking of the net overall bill position from generally available market offers, considering electricity charges and FiTs The best market offer for a particular solar customer may not necessarily be the one offering the highest retailer FiT rate. This is because a solar customer's net overall electricity bill will be the total of fixed, variable, and other charges, less the amount they receive in FiT payments. Solar customers who import a large amount of electricity, and export a relatively small amount of electricity, may find that a market offer with cheaper prices for electricity imports would be best for them, even if it did not offer the highest FiT rate. Conversely, solar customers who export a large amount of electricity and import relatively less would receive greater benefit from a higher FiT rate. The Direction requires the QCA to rank solar customer's net overall bill position for generally available market offers by two factors: total electricity consumption (e.g. a small, typical and large residential customer), and high medium and low solar export/use ratios. 3.2.1 Total electricity consumption We propose to base total electricity consumption levels on Energex data. We consider this the best data source as it is the actual data used by retailers to generate electricity bills for customers. This metering data is the total amount of electricity imported to each meter. As discussed in Chapter 1, solar customers will also consume some electricity generated from their own solar panels. The amount of this consumption will vary between customers according to their electricity usage patterns and in some cases the size of their solar PV system. While this 10
Retailer market offers 'behind the meter' consumption will act to lower the amount of electricity imported by the solar customer, it is not used in calculating electricity bills, and as a result, will not affect the ranking of market offers. The Direction requires the QCA to incorporate varying consumption levels in its analysis, providing an example of a 'small, typical and large residential customer'. We propose to follow the example given in the Direction, basing the 'small', 'typical', and 'large' consumption definitions for each customer and tariff combinations as follows: small 25th percentile customer 26 typical median (50th percentile) 27 large 75th percentile. 28 3.2.2 High, medium, and low, solar export/use ratio 3.2.3 Results The Direction requires the QCA to incorporate 'high, medium and low' ratios of solar exports to usage in its analysis. As with electricity consumption, we propose to base these ratios on Energex data. We consider this the best data source as it is the actual export, and import, data used by retailers to generate electricity bills for SEQ customers. 29 As with electricity consumption, we propose to follow the example given in the Direction, basing the 'high', 'medium', and 'low' export ratio definitions for each customer and the most common tariffs and combinations as follows: high 75th percentile 30 medium median (50th percentile) 31 low 25th percentile customer 32 As outlined in Sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2, the QCA has to rank all generally available market offers available for the most common tariffs and combinations under the following 18 scenarios in order to fulfil the requirements of item 3 of the TOR: 26 One-quarter of solar customers will import less electricity than the 25th percentile customer. 27 Half of solar customers will import less electricity than the median, or 50th percentile, customer. 28 Three-quarters of solar customers will import less electricity than the 75th percentile customer. 29 The QCA also considered using solar PV system size as a proxy for export ratios. While there is some relationship between solar PV system size and the ratio of electricity exports to usage, we consider it is more robust to use the actual metering data used to generate electricity bills, rather than using a proxy. 30 Three-quarters of solar customers will have a lower export/import ratio than the 75th percentile customer. 31 Half of solar customers will have a lower export/import ratio than the median, or 50th percentile, customer. 32 One-quarter of solar customers will have a lower export/import ratio than the 25th percentile customer. 11
Retailer market offers Table 4 Consumption and export ratio scenarios Consumption level Small (25th percentile) consumption level. Export ratio Low (25th percentile) export ratio. Medium (median) export ratio. High (75th percentile) export ratio. Typical (median) consumption level. Low (25th percentile) export ratio. Medium (median) export ratio. High (75th percentile) export ratio. Large (75th percentile) consumption level. Low (25th percentile) export ratio. Medium (median) export ratio. High (75th percentile) export ratio. We expect the ranking of generally available market offers may change under each of these scenarios, as customers with different consumption levels, FiTs and export ratios may benefit most from different offers. For example, solar customers who export a large amount of electricity may gain greater benefit from high FiT rates, while solar customers who import a large amount of electricity may benefit more from cheaper prices for imported electricity. Tariffs We propose to publish net overall bill positions for the residential and small business tariffs, and combinations of tariffs, most commonly used by solar customers. We expect the most common tariffs and combinations will be flat rate, flat rate combined with controlled load (super economy) and flat rate combined with controlled load (economy). Presentation The analysis conducted on each market offer as described above will result in thousands of data points, far more than we could feasibly present in the main body of the report. As a result, we propose to present the three cheapest net bills under each scenario for the June 2017 quarter in the main body of the report. Table 5 is a sample of the table we propose to provide for each of the most common tariffs and combinations. We propose to provide a spreadsheet containing the full ranking of all market offers on a quarterly basis, for each of the most common tariffs and combinations, under each of the scenarios. This spreadsheet would be available on our website. 12
Retailer market offers Table 5 Net annual bills for SEQ solar customers 30 June 2017 (flat rate residential tariff) Import level Export Ratio High Medium Low Small XXXX kwh per annum Retailer offer 1 $XXXX Retailer offer 10 $XXXX Retailer offer 19 $XXXX Retailer offer 2 $XXXX Retailer offer 11 $XXXX Retailer offer 20 $XXXX Retailer offer 3 $XXXX Retailer offer 12 $XXXX Retailer offer 21 $XXXX Typical XXXX kwh per annum Retailer offer 4 $XXXX Retailer offer 13 $XXXX Retailer offer 22 $XXXX Retailer offer 5 $XXXX Retailer offer 14 $XXXX Retailer offer 23 $XXXX Retailer offer 6 $XXXX Retailer offer 15 $XXXX Retailer offer 24 $XXXX Large XXXX kwh per annum Retailer offer 7 $XXXX Retailer offer 16 $XXXX Retailer offer 25 $XXXX Retailer offer 8 $XXXX Retailer offer 17 $XXXX Retailer offer 26 $XXXX Retailer offer 9 $XXXX Retailer offer 18 $XXXX Retailer offer 27 $XXXX Note: This table is for illustrative purposes only. Separate tables would be produced for each of the most common tariffs and combinations. Consultation question (3) Will our proposed approach allow us to compare and rank of the net overall bill position from generally available market offers, considering electricity charges and FiTs for the specified range of different residential and small business electricity customers with solar PV systems, as required by item 3 of the TOR? If not, how should the approach change to do so? 13
Glossary GLOSSARY AER December quarter the Direction EME FiT June quarter kwh March quarter The Minister QCA SBS September quarter SEQ solar customer solar PV TOR The Australian Energy Regulator Data obtained on 31 December of the relevant year. The Direction made by the Minister on 17 February 2017 (see Appendix A). Energy Made Easy. Feed-in tariff. Data obtained on 30 June of the relevant year. Kilowatt hour. Data obtained on 31 March of the relevant year. The Minister for Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply. Queensland Competition Authority. Solar bonus scheme. Data obtained on 30 September of the relevant year. South east Queensland. Solar PV system owners. Solar photovoltaic. The terms of reference to the Direction. 14
Appendix A: Minister's Direction notice APPENDIX A: MINISTER'S DIRECTION NOTICE 15