$500 million date

Catastrophic bush fires in the southwest of Western Australia have overshadowed news of a blowout in the cost of a government funded scheme encouraging solar cell installations.

The scheme, originally projected to cost $23 million, could end up costing taxpayers over $500 million.

Synergy yesterday confirmed about 75,000 West Australian households, non-profit organisations and educational institutions had taken up the scheme between September last year and August 1, when Energy Minister Peter Collier suspended it.

The scheme provided a flat buyback rate of 40c per kWh for anyone who signed up between September 10 last year and May 1 this year. Those who took up the scheme between May 2 and July 1 got 20c for every kWh they sold back to the grid, and the rate was 7c per kWh between July 2 and August 1.

Synergy continued to be inundated with applications for the scheme even after the rates were cut ...  in the weeks after the cut-off, confusion reigned over which applicants had beaten the deadline. As a result, all applicants were signed up.

Government in action, and especially when pandering to environmentalists, is a wondrous thing to behold.