Hon Minister, let me first congratulate you on your appointment and assure you that we in the ID look forward to working with you to find solutions to our energy problems. It is my hope that now that energy has been liberated from the minerals sector, we will truly be able to consider ways in which we can build a low-carbon economy. Our energy must now come from above the ground and not just from below it. Doing this will not only reduce our country's considerable contribution to climate change, but also create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the renewable energy industry.
Minister, with the passing of the new Energy Act, which requires your department to produce an integrated energy plan each year, a new era in energy planning has hopefully been brought into being. It is the ID's sincere hope that this plan will not simply be an amalgamation of the different energy sector plans, but rather a comprehensive plan that undertakes a proper cost-benefit analysis of our different energy options. It must also be prepared to challenge elements of Eskom's New Build Programme.
This plan also needs to be informed by the review of the renewable energy White Paper, although the details of this review process currently remain unclear. For the plan to be truly comprehensive it should also be informed by the externalities of energy study, which was unfortunately suspended in 2006 owing to a lack of funding.
A review of the first phase of the energy efficiency strategy also needs to take place. We need to have constant monitoring and evaluation of this strategy to ensure that we reach our targets. We in the ID cannot accept a situation in which Eskom sets a target of 1 million solar water heaters in three years and delivers only 1 250 in the first year.
This programme must be taken away from Eskom and placed under the authority of the National Energy Efficiency Agency, which should urgently be staffed with more than two people. We also need a rethink of the model that is used and an increase in the current subsidy level for solar water heaters.
Finally, the ID would like to know what has happened to the energy efficiency strategies that big businesses promised to produce following on from the National Energy Efficiency Accord in 2005. Perhaps it is now time to consider mandatory measures rather than rely on voluntary actions to drive forward our energy efficiency goals. I thank you.