Scaled-back home battery rebate scheme prompts confusion, backlash against WA government
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West Australians who install solar batteries will not be able to claim as big a rebate from the WA government as promised.
The WA government has been forced to deny accusations of a backflip and a broken election promise after revealing a raft of changes to subsidies for people installing batteries in their homes.
Prior to the state election in February, Premier Roger Cook promised to introduce a subsidy for residential batteries, saying it would lead to a "tsunami of work" for the industry.
The commitment offered one-off rebates of up to $5,000 for Synergy customers and up to $7,500 for Horizon Power customers in regional WA to purchase a home battery.
The batteries store electricity and are commonly paired with rooftop solar systems.
An app monitoring the energy captured by a home battery. (AAP)
Federal Labor then announced a similar scheme during its election campaign weeks later, offering a 30 per cent discount on purchasing a battery.
But with both re-elected, WA Labor has significantly reduced its offering.
Under what it describes as "revisions", only $1,300 will be offered to Synergy customers and $3,800 for Horizon customers.
'People made an assumption'
WA Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation Amber-Jade Sanderson claimed the changes made to the state plan would allow more people to access the rebates.
Amber-Jade Sanderson says the WA government never indicated the state and federal rebates would be stacked. (ABC News: Daryna Zadvirna)
Despite the drawdown in the total value, she claimed there was no discrepancy.
The minister argued the original $5,000 and $7,500 figures now represented the total assistance available if people successfully claimed both the state and federal schemes.
"I think it's important to understand that at no point did the federal government or the state government indicate that those rebates would be stacked.
"People made an assumption, but I think overall for the greater good and a huge number of people now who will have access to a rebate, that is a better outcome for the community."
'Not fair, not right'
The move has left many customers frustrated, with a number telling the ABC they had made plans expecting to receive the total of both subsidies promised by both tiers of government.
One Mandurah-based solar company has taken to social media to apologise to customers for the impact of changes to the scheme.
"We didn’t want to send out quotes based on outdated or inaccurate information," the company wrote.
"Imagine getting a quote last week, only to find the rebate dropped or changed the next. Not fair, not right — and not how we operate.
The changes come after previous attempts to clarify whether the two rebates would be stacked together received unclear responses.
The two election promises made regarding battery subsidies. (ABC News: Gian De Poloni)
When asked at a media event on April 7 if consumers would have access to both amounts in full, Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said: "We'll work through all those details."
The ABC has seen a post-election email from Perth Labor MP Frank Paolino sent to a constituent interested in the scheme that was also non-committal on the dollar value.
"I am informed that the solar battery rebate can be claimed alongside the state battery rebate," Mr Paolino wrote.
Broken promise: Liberals
Shadow Energy Minister Steve Thomas said it amounted to a broken promise and an admission of failure.
“This is obviously an attempt by the state to hide the problems [with the scheme's rollout], despite industry having already been informed that the initial state and federal grants could be sought concurrently to a total maximum of $8,000," he said.
Ms Sanderson has defended the decision as fiscally responsible.
"If we throw a lot of money at 20,000 people up-front, that will essentially overheat the market and overwhelm providers, and it also means that another 80,000 people get a lot less," she said.
"Whilst I understand a small number of people will be disappointed … the feedback that I've had from retailers is that they are delighted with the actual result.
"We are spreading the rebate across more people and actually ensuring a pipeline of work for the sector for years to come."
Written by Gian De Poloni and Blake Kagi, ABC News.
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