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Thursday 13 November 2008

At the beginning of this year, power cuts made South Africans aware that we face significant challenges in electricity generation and distribution. Renewable energy is an obvious possible solution, and in reaction to our energy situation, e-REACT, a Renewable Energy Lobby group, made up of members from different political parties in the South African parliament, was formed. The first major initiative from the group is a private members bill (REFIT) which proposes introducing Feed in Tariff legislation as a way of supporting renewable energy in South Africa. Feed in tariffs mean that our electricity supplier, Eskom, will buy energy from renewable energy suppliers at a fixed tariff for a fixed period of time. This energy will then be fed into the grid. This feed in tariff model has been succesful in promoting renewable energy resources in other countries, most notably Germany.

The bill is due to be discussed in parliament on 18 November at 12h30. You can show your support for the bill by emailing any one of the following MPs stating your name, telephone number, fax (if you have one), email address and a note saying why you support REFIT:

Dr Ruth Rabinowitz (IFP) reureka@iafrica.com

Gareth Morgan (DA) morgan@da.org.za

Lance Greyling (ID) lanceg@id.org.za

Judy Chalmers (ANC) jchalmer@mweb.co.za

Alternatively, you can sign an online petition in support of the bill.

For more information about the bill and its background see:

Article in Mail and Guardian Online

Gareth Morgan's Blog (MP for the Democratic Alliance)

For more about feed in tariffs see:

SEPco document library: Feed in Tariffs v. Renewable Set-Asides article

Articles at Wind-Works.org

Labels: electricity, Eskom, feed in tariffs, feed in tariffs bill, private members bill, renewable energy, South Africa