Households in Australia to pay more to prop Queensland's Solar Bonus Scheme

Queenslanders would need to pay up an additional $240 on their annual power bills in three years to cover the costs of the state's Solar Bonus Scheme.

According to modelling done at the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) by 2015/16 almost 12 per cent of an average bill would go towards funding the scheme, to cope with its increasing popularity.

The scheme, introduced by the Bligh Labor government, pays solar powered households for the surplus electricity generated, which is supplied to the Queensland electricity grid.

In July, the Liberal National Party government cut the revenue new household customers could earn from their surplus, from 44 cents per kilowatt hour to eight cents per kilowatt hour and according to energy minister Mark McArdle, that had brought down the projected cost of the scheme from $1.8 billion to $1.5 billion in 2028, when it was due to expire.

"This cost is passed through to all households in the form of higher network charges which just adds to the burden of this scheme," McArdle said in a statement today.

As of July, over 198,000 households had solar panels, with Energex alone paying $13 million in September for the solar feed in tariff. According to the Energex spokesman, paying for the scheme cost $19 million in 2010/11 which rose to $74 million in 2011/12.