24 major energy companies including AGL, GE and Tesla, have signed an open letter to Australia’s parliament criticising plans to impose cuts of 1.3bn AUD ($1bn USD) on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena). The country’s coalition government has removed Arena’s grant-making ability, effectively abolishing it. The companies warn that investment confidence would be undermined by such a cut, and that supply chains and skills could be lost permanently. “Australia is one of only two countries in the world with no renewable energy agency – we need one,” said Andrew Forrest, chief executive officer at the ETA.
24 major energy companies including AGL, GE and Tesla, have signed an open letter to Australia’s parliament criticising plans to impose cuts of 1.3bn AUD ($1bn USD) on the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena). The country’s coalition government has removed Arena’s grant-making ability, effectively abolishing it. The companies warn that investment confidence would be undermined by such a cut, and that supply chains and skills could be lost permanently. The CEO of the Clean Energy Council, Kane Thornton, said that Arena had helped lower the cost of renewable energy and storage.