{"id":203146,"date":"2018-03-06T17:18:40","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T07:18:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=203146"},"modified":"2020-08-06T13:26:41","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T03:26:41","slug":"mayor-rules-out-solar-rates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2018\/03\/06\/mayor-rules-out-solar-rates\/","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Rules Out Solar Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Household solar systems which produce excess energy and feed it into the grid will not attract higher rates because they do not change land use (Photo: Pixabay)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 6, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell has ruled out a rate hike on South Burnett homes using solar power to feed electricity into the State’s power grid.<\/p>\n

The rate hike would be in line with the Council’s policy of levying higher rates on properties used for energy production.<\/p>\n

The Council already receives special rates from the Tarong Power Stations, and intends to levy higher rates on Boyneside farmers who are hosting turbines for the Coopers Gap Wind Farm.<\/p>\n

The Council would also levy higher rates on a proposed solar farm near Kingaroy if the project goes ahead.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Mayor Campbell said the reason household solar would not attract Council’s interest was tied to land usage.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of the farms at Boyneside have their rates assessed on the basis the land is being used for cattle grazing, he said.<\/p>\n

But if parts of the farms were being turned over to industrial uses, then those parts would need to be assessed at a different rate.<\/p>\n

The same applied to Tarong.<\/p>\n

By contrast, household solar systems were primarily for domestic purposes and didn’t change the nature of land use, even if they did feed electricity into the state’s power grid.<\/p>\n

But a proposed Kingaroy solar farm which would blanket a large cattle grazing block with solar panels would substantially alter the land’s use, he said, and would be levied accordingly.<\/p>\n