High price to pay for renewable energy

The federal government’s renewable energy target plan will lead to significant rises in electricity costs for aged care providers, according to Catholic Health Australia (CHA).

In a submission to thes senate inquiry investigating the proposed scheme, CHA said its aged care energy expenditure would triple in just ten years.

The organisation predicts that the scheme will be costing its aged care members $1,035,361 by 2020.

This figure is based on the assumption that the average aged care bed consumes 6MWh of electricity each year.

The organisation’s CEO said the added cost from the renewable energy target scheme comes on top of price rises associated with the carbon pollution reduction scheme.

“Australia cannot afford to impose such a heavy financial penalty on our health sector,” he said. “Commonwealth funding for hospital and aged care services must be adjusted to meet the costs of the proposed schemes.”

Mr Laverty said CHA supports the government’s plan to pursue renewable energy targets but it must maintain its commitment to supporting health and aged care.

“We fully support initiatives to improve the environmental sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint of hospitals and aged care – in fact many of our services are already doing terrific work in this area,” he said.

“But these schemes should not impact on the sector’s ability to provide quality health and aged care to all Australians who need it.”

According to a report from consulting firm McLennan Magasanik Associates, renewable energy certificates will begin at a cost of around $70 but will fall to around $18 by 2030.