I’ve been in Sydney for a few days (including a truly intriguing tour of Silex Solar’s impressive Solar Panel factory at Olympic Park). I picked up the Daily Telegraph in the hotel today to determine the leading page screaming about electrical energy prices.

In accordance with the paper, the only individual who can bring NSW electrical power rates down may be the Premier: Kristina Keneally - along with the Telegraph is demanding that they does a thing over it - or else…

Now I’m no fan from the mob of incompetent cronies and hollowmen which includes made up the NSW government within the last couple of years, but electricity costs are high because of massive demand and restricted supply. That demand is created through the NSW public making black roofed McMansion hotboxes with 10kW air-conditioning as regular and just about no insulation or window shading - never ever mind double glazing.

Let’s try taking a little responsibility for that actions and take on that whenever we generate enormous need for a thing (through becoming hopeless at implementing basic power effectiveness measures) we shouldn’t be surprised if the value goes up.

The Telegraph’s answer to all this really is with the State Government to hand out hundreds of dollars a year to folks with high bills and quit encouraging people to invest in solar power by scrapping NSW’s Solar Bonus (Gross Feed In Tariff).

So allow me to get this right: the journos in the Telegraph think which the resolution to high electrical power rates is to reward the those who use essentially the most electrical power, and stop rewarding those people that pick to generate their own?

I only say: just leave the industry to sort itself out. High electricity prices (coupled with intelligent rebates for power efficiency) will encourage extra people today to become a lot more power effective, that will lessen the requirement for electrical energy and enhance the provide from solar power, that may only push electrical power rates down.

And don’t forget that the majority of the boost in electrical energy rates is to fund the developing of extra wires and poles to cope with “peak demand” periods. These peak demand periods are generally when the sun reaches its hottest within the afternoon and everyone’s air conditioners are operating full throttle. Power output from residential solar panels peaks at specifically exactly the same time, helping to lessen peak demand. And since the solar panels take presctiption your roof and any power exported might be utilized locally, they do not have to have pylons and hundreds of km of power cabling to get the power towards the end user.