QUEENSLAND farmers say they are still in the dark over electricity tariffs.
This week marked two years until the end of transitional and obsolete electricity tariffs. From July 1, 2020, many of the tariffs that were specifically designed to meet the needs of irrigation and other farming activities will be phased out, leaving farmers to negotiate higher cost demand-based tariffs.
Queensland Farmers’ Federation president Stuart Armitage said the standard business demand-based tariff options were unsuitable for the state’s agriculture sector and without a genuine transition program, farmers would be left in the dark.
“At the end of 2016, there were about 42,000 regional businesses currently on eight different tariffs classified as transitional or obsolete. About 17,400 of these connections are for farming and irrigation purposes,” Mr Armitage said.
“The ability for these farm businesses to now adjust in a two-year period when many still have no usage data to make tariff selection choices is unreasonable, particularly to a demand tariff.
“Irrigated agriculture will not only have to deal with the direct impact of high energy costs but also the rising cost of water should the Queensland Government decide to permit bulk water and distribution scheme operators like SunWater to recover their increasing electricity costs.
“The current lack of clarity on what tariffs would be suitable for irrigation and other agricultural-specific operations, and the significant bill increases farmers will face moving from transitional tariffs to standard business demand-based tariffs is unacceptable.”
QFF continues to call on the Queensland Government and the Opposition to set out a clear path for affordable energy for intensive, semi-intensive and irrigated agriculture by developing a suite of suitable tariffs, efficiently pricing electricity, and increasing investment to help farmers improve their energy efficiency and demand management.
