WA government feels the heat over “ban” on storage and EVs

Western Australian energy retailer Synergy and its state government owner continue to feel the heat over its apparent “ban” on battery storage and electric vehicles, and have promised that they will review the offending clauses in contracts with customers.

As RenewEconomy’s sister site One Step Off The Grid wrote last week, several clauses in Synergy contracts with solar customers threaten that solar installations will not remain connected if the customer adds battery storage or EVs.

synergy contract

There has been some confusion over whether this meant full disconnection, or the loss of the ability to export solar power (or power stored in batteries) back to the grid. It appears to be the latter, and Synergy and energy minister Mike Nahan agree that the contract has been poorly worded.

Under questioning from Greens MLC Robin Chapple this week, Nahan said there was no intention to ban battery storage or electric vehicles, and he said that the offending clauses would be reviewed.

Nahan earlier this month made the extraordinary prediction that rooftop solar would meet all daytime demand within 10 years. He said solar was “cheap” and “democratic” and the government would encourage the technology because it would help force out coal fired generation.

The issue is being presented as a “communications snafu”, but it actually goes deeper than that.

Synergy has suggested that it has no choice but to pass on the rules by network operator Western Power, also government owned, and said the rules – under the access arrangements approved by the Economic Regulation Authority – would not be changed until 2017.

But RenewEconomy understands that this is not exactly the case. We are told that at the time of the last regulatory reset in 2012, Western Power proposed that these access arrangements, known as  “reference services” should include customers who also had battery storage systems and electric vehicles.

But during public consultation on Western Power’s proposal, Synergy raised operational concerns regarding extending the reference service to battery storage and electric vehicles.

The ERA then took the view that, because demand for battery storage and EVs would likely be limited, and their impact on the network operations unknown, the two technologies should not be included in the reference services for households with solar PV.

However, services for electric vehicles and battery storage systems could still be provided as non-reference services, and there is nothing preventing Synergy from supplying an electricity service to customers with battery storage and/or EVs, along as it is not on a bi-directional service.

Critics says this will need to be changed in the regulatory reset in 2017, particularly given Nahan’s bullish forecasts for rooftop solar.


Chapple, the WA Greens energy spokesman, said Nahan has now “acknowledged what we all know – battery storage technology and electric vehicles will be an essential part of WA’s energy future.”

He said the contracts, as they stood, had significant legal ramifications for anyone wishing to install a battery storage system in conjunction with their existing rooftop solar.

“This is a win for every electricity consumer in Western Australia, not just those Synergy customers who already have rooftop solar.”

Comments

7 responses to “WA government feels the heat over “ban” on storage and EVs”

  1. Chris Fraser Avatar
    Chris Fraser

    The fears of Western Power could be summed up;”We have enough trouble dealing with your PV export during the day when you’re not home. We can’t sell as much of our own energy then, and need excuses to be rid of you”;”Don’t store centrally-generated energy at off-peak times and get the FiT for it at peak times”;These fears can’t comprehend that storage and cars complement each other, tend to cancel each other out – without adding nuisance PV export.

    1. Mike Dill Avatar
      Mike Dill

      With batteries and EVs the export ‘problem’ will disappear in a few years. Western will sell less power during the day, but EVs will take the extras at night

  2. Alistair Spong Avatar
    Alistair Spong

    Looking forward to Western Power and Synergy getting there respective houses in order – will Nahan sell them before or after !

    1. Coley Avatar
      Coley

      Anybody willing to buy them? Now or in two years time?

  3. Michel Syna Rahme Avatar
    Michel Syna Rahme

    Good work!

  4. john Avatar
    john

    Perhaps the clauses were put in place by a body that does not understand how PV, storage and an electric vehicle dovetail together.
    Perhaps the thinking is the EV will be used to supply evening peak.
    Using this kind of thinking I suppose LED would be also ruled out or any other kind of energy efficient device.
    Rather muddled thinking not leading to good policy does not get a pass I am afraid I award a F and would say the student will have to repeat the exercise with a rider to study the actual factors involved.

  5. Ian Avatar
    Ian

    Those clauses were put in place by utilities and networks to try protect their waning income. The pollies will have to make a choice: support the Money or support the vote. Solar is people’s power. Not everyone wants to , or can generate, store and recharge EV’s with homegrown electricity, there is bound to be plenty of opportunities for the network to manage an energy marketplace one quite different from a utility sow with lots of little suckling piglets. So to Western Power we say ‘ man up, take your paycut, shape-up and trim-down, or choose your redundancy package’

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