Australian Government Curbs Investments in Wind and Solar Energy

The Australian Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), a government-funded organization that invests in renewable energy, will no
Australia rooftop solar
Duncan Rawlinson/Flickr
Rooftop solar panels in Western Australia
longer invest in wind technology and small-scale solar projects, the government announced Sunday. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that the CEFC should invest in new and emerging technologies, and that wind and small-scale solar projects should instead be supported by the free market. Currently, one-third of CEFC funding, which totals roughly $10 billion, goes to solar projects, the majority of which are small-scale. The funding ban could increase prices for small-scale solar projects such as rooftop photovoltaic panel installations, especially for low-income households, renters, and public housing tenants. The ban on these investments is the latest in a series of actions by the Abbott government to make cuts in environmental initiatives, including two failed attempts to abolish the CEFC.