Essay by Eric Worrall
As our new Prime Minister’s grand green energy transformation plan falls flat, ordinary Australians are feeling the pain of politically motivated lack of investment in dispatchable energy infrastructure.
Millions of Australians to be hit with energy bill price hikes
Major energy retailers are expected to increase prices as early as Friday. Find out if you’ll be affected here.
Millions of customers across large parts of Australia’s eastern states are about to be hit with huge hikes to power bills as price increases approved by the regulator kick in from Friday.
In May, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) announced it would be raising the default market offer (DMO) – or the price providers are allowed to charge their customers – with the changes coming into effect from July 1.
The hikes mean Queenslanders could see an increase of up to 12.6 per cent, while those in NSW could see up to 18.3 per cent and 9.5 per cent in South Australia.
From August 1, one of the country’s biggest retailers, AGL, will slug NSW electricity customers close to 18 per cent, likely to lead to many households paying annual increase of hundreds of dollars.
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The prices of some smaller energy companies are also set to soar after July 1, with ReAmped and LPE increasing their prices by 100 per cent, while Discover Energy will increase by 285 per cent and GloBird by 147 per cent.
Taylor Blackburn from Finder told 7NEWS these smaller companies are hiking their prices in a bid to lose customers.
“We’ve seen a lot of smaller providers actually beg their customers to go somewhere else and to shop around,” he said.
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Read more: https://7news.com.au/business/energy/millions-of-australians-set-for-energy-bill-price-hikes-c-7351017
The price rises are only happening because in the current political environment, nobody is investing in new dispatchable energy capacity. Gas drilling has been all but banned in Eastern states, where the power shortages are occurring. For example in 2021 the Victorian Government added a permanent fracking ban to the State Constitution.
It could all have been so different.
If Australia had an energy friendly political environment which encouraged low cost coal and gas power, we would have had an abundance of capacity which could have helped keep down prices.
Or if we had a significant nuclear power fleet, they would have acted as a counterbalance to the price rises. Nuclear power plants only have to be refuelled every two years, and Australia has a world class abundance of Uranium and Thorium deposits.
Our new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s green energy plans will do nothing to alleviate these economically crippling energy price rises. If you have any doubts about this, I refer you to President Obama’s excellent explanation of why green energy is always more expensive.
There is no way that leftist “leaders” don’t know exactly what dire effects their anti-fuel actions are having on ordinary citizens’ standards of living.
Ergo, it has to be deliberate malice.
I wonder what Albo has learnt talking to European nation leaders during his listening tour with sightseeing. I think that’s the correct order.
However, Union owned Superannuation Industry Funds must have given him instructions on what to ignore, they are major shareholders in the transition to unreliable energy.
The Union dominated Superannuation industry will not invest in Australian export industry. Just over half of funds are invested offshore last time I looked. That included Russia, China although that has changes.
The Unions are not stupid, they understand where this is going, and are investing accordingly.
It is interesting that the Whitlam Labor Government signed the UN Lima Protocol in 1975 agreeing to the gradual transfer of manufacturing industry from developed nations to developing nations like China, but The Australian Union Movement did not oppose it.
It is entirely planned.
First destroy stable society by advancing anarchy. Then, when the remnants of that society are clamouring for stability and a controlling authority, provide them with the Great Reset.
Or maybe it’s the global rise in coal and gas prices that pushing up east coast power prices based on fossil fuels
Perhaps you have noticed petrol prices have gone up quite a bit too.
seeing as we mine our own, there was ZERO need for hikes to aussie supply at all theyre already raking billions in selling to OS markets.
and we banned frakking on farmland etc we did NOT ban offshore oil/gas. however its 96% foreign bloody owned!!
Apart from WA which has a portion ‘reserved’ for local supply the eastern states have no such arrangement so their price is the global price. And why wouldnt the gas and coal suppliers want the best prices for their product
Maybe unreliables push up energy prices 🤔
Yes they are unreliable thus they need more gas and coal generation not less
And Brandon’s admin is happily accelerating our own “incredible transition” down the RE sink hole. The number of people absolutely blind to how an RE “transition” plays out is incredible. After decades of being told the lie, people absolutely believe it.
At least Joe Biden ADMITS that he wants those high price, min order to usher in his ‘liberal world order’, as he puts it. Yes, it IS deliberate malice! At OUR expense!
“ordinary Australians are feeling the pain of politically motivated lack of investment in dispatchable energy infrastructure.”. Peter Dutton, where are you – this is the message that you should be pushing every day. (Peter Dutton is Australia’s opposition leader).
The mostly left leaning media tries hard to ignore the Coalition even when it is in government but when it is in opposition and Labor are in government the Opposition Leader and colleagues are almost ignored.
And then please consider that too many voters in Australia are apathetic, no interest in politics unless personally impacted, what used to be called the hip pocket nerve motivational factor.
Therefore Opposition Leader Dutton has appeared on for example Sky News programmes but the apathetic voters prefer sport.
Nah! Just not good enough
It’s not a new development in Australia, getting media attention is much more difficult for the Coalition of Liberal and National parties.
Dutton’s Liberal Party proposed the closure of coal electricity in WA, activly blocked gas or development in Victoria and NSW. The Liberals are more Green in my home State of Queensland than Labor.
The Liberal Party are not part of the energy solution in Australia anymore than the ruling Labor Party.
Australia is in for a world of pain before our stupid bipartesian politics even understands what is happening.
The saying goes “you deserve the government you elect .”
It is not untill it affects your pocket that you ask ” what the h,,, is going on .”
Green socialist governments all around the world are pushing against the use of fossil fuels and it can only end up a disaster. Their actions can only end in damage to their countries economy’s .
There is no climate crisis.
There has never been so much irrational thinking by elected governments fighting a problem that does not exist .
Governments are not looking after the welfare of their citizens welfare trying to fight a problem that has never been proven to exist.
Over the next 4 years this damage will quadruple as industry is forced to retrench because of lack of power and materials .
Many countries populations will be pushed towards poverty because of energy restrictions and costs .
Peter Dutton is the Federal Opposition Leader for Liberal MPs and therefore because there are more Liberal MPs than National MPs the National’s leader is the Deputy Opposition Leader.
There are State Executive offices and a Federal Executive office and the parties have office bearers in each, the elected MPs do not control the parties that selected them to be candidates for election to State or Federal parliaments.
So please differentiate between Federal and State, and from your comment blame the WA State MPs, and note that electricity supply is a State responsibility, they privatised the power stations and transmission lines or leased them (I do not know the WA position), and States approve development applications for gas fields, mines, wind and solar installations and other development proposals.
Albo Labor cannot force renewable energy transition, they too must gain State support and cooperation. However Federal Labor 2010-2011 did create the Renewable Energy Target and incentive subsidies. And then the States approved wind and solar projects.
When even the Guardian reports that over half the population in Oz supports building nukes and less than a quarter stand with Loydo and Nick, naturally the squish Coalition cowards are timid about admitting any support of such an “unfashionable” view as partially lifting a ban on nuclear power. Sad to see how far gone you poor Aussies are. Apparently when the right 23% oppose something, that makes it unfashionable. Who are the 53% deplorables whose opinion is meaningless?
https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/06/peter-dutton-says-hes-not-afraid-of-nuclear-debate-after-advocate-named-shadow-energy-minister
I have no idea where they get their percentages from. I have time based charging and each of the rates have doubled.
Then switch to another provider under DMO
You sound like you are riding the spot market from your provider
I honestly do not think Australian politicians understand. The keep repeating that energy prices are going to fall in the short term, even when discussing the need for $20 billion in transmission infrastructure, and the need for an order of magnitue increase in the number of wind/solar projects. I really think they have no clue as to what they are talking about.
For little Australia, $20 billion is a lot of money.
As to where the money is going to come from….. a large chunk of our exports are energy. It is an election promise by all parties that the fossil fuel industry will be shut down.
I blame Australia’s substandard education system. It seems to be a ore-requisite that our politicians have limited maths, science, engineering, biology education.
The Australian dollar is falling now. I suspect this has a lot to do with it.
The state has sucked the lifeblood from the economy and the politicians of all colours are clueless
There has been a recent study of long wind and solar droughts in winter in the NEM region, scary stuff, long term storage has to be way bigger (more expensive) than envisaged:
https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2022/06/seasons-of-low-wind-and-solar-output-will-influence-the-shape-of-the-nem/
The underlying problem is that what should be a system designed and developed under the discipline of Systems Engineering is being changed under the chaos of Politics and Marketing.
The only solution I can see to lack of investment is … state ownership. Private capital has to generate an up-front return from building new facilities for the state, otherwise the risks are too great and it ain’t going to happen.
we need ALL essential services like power gas water fuel and transport BACK in govt control not bloody private OS investment interests. profit made go back to benefit US!
dans flogging licences and transport off for a fast buck
SA is going to take back public transport they never should have been allowed to sell off
What you have now is like Italian Fascism, where the nominally private industries nevertheless are totally controlled by the State.
Doesn’t work so let’s do more of it, your a genius, governments don’t produce anything.
That is a sure way to energy poverty. Next you will own nothing and the government class will own you fully.
Didn’t they have conservative leader that locked the country down HARDER than anywhere else in the world? Conservative Politicians suck as much as liberal douche bags
WA and Vic were worst for stazilike powergrabs, scomo didnt have the power
same as the states forced jab to work, one moron does it the rest followed
Scomo was a gutless politician, not a national leader
12.6%?
UK bills have already gone up 50% and will shoot up again in October
It could be worse… and it probably will be
bills already doubled after smartmeters service charges are now HALF your bill
Thus far I have avoided smart meters
It is the mark of a culture gone dysfunctional when they export uranium oxide and high-quality clean coal and can’t bring themselves to utilize it internally.
Meanwhile the weather is continuing to add to the issue – NSW and the south east seaboard is being hit pretty hard with high winds, very heavy rains and an extreme weather pattern that’s going to cause severe disruption (or worse) to the coastal region. I suspect electricity prices may not be their top priority just now.
Sad to see this in a country that sits on a huge pile of coal, ready and waiting to provide low cost power.
Let’s be VERY clear. The ENTIRE PURPOSE of this “policy” is to remove ALL energy from the masses and turn you into savages. They really want to kill you and your children. It’s really that simple and cannot be disputed so don’t even try.
Government teaming up with green energy barons to loot the masses. All part of the “liberal world order” (as some big mouth in the BiDung regime blurted out). Didn’t there used to be a word for statist corporations teaming up with Big Brother? Fascist wasn’t it?
Breezes and sunshine to save Australia!!!
BTW, all the components of wind turbines and solar panels are made with oil derivatives. Ridding the world of oil usage, eliminates wind turbines, solar panels, and vehicles.
Back to the 1800’s.
Your government is warring upon you, and you do nothing. First, you allowed them to take away your guns, then secondly you did not say NO and thirdly, you have continued to allow your government’s tyranny to turn you into slaves of the Administrative State. If you do not start to fight back, what you end up with, will be your own faults.
We are warning all law enforcement, that they have a choice, either they support the people against the state’s tyranny or they protect the state from an angered enslaved public. If they do not Choose Wisely, they will become no more than cannon fodder as the government’s first line of defense. Do you boys and girls in Black-Battle-Gear, really hate your own people so much, you would follow the dictates of the few corrupt individuals at the top of your governmental pyramid?
YOU ARE NO LONGER A PENAL COLONY, SO STOP ACTING LIKE PRISONERS !!!
‘The price rises are only happening because in the current political environment, nobody is investing in new dispatchable energy capacity.’
That’s not true, is it?
Energy crisis explainer: What the fudge is going on with power prices? (finder.com.au)
Proof that the Leftist Australian government is as loopy as Griff: “Gas is needed to fill the gap as our renewable energy resources aren’t as well-positioned to meet the demand. This is again driving up prices. Bowen [Australian Energy Minister] said the current crisis was a “result of poor planning and a previous government which didn’t see the opportunity [in] renewable energy”.”
Ruinables physically can’t meet demand but the capacity crisis is because we didn’t develop more ruinables. Ideology runs strong in Leftists, replacing logic.
Additionally, Bowen seems unaware and surprised that poor planning is a feature of government. And Leftist governments’ response to prior poor planning is to plan more. Atlas Shrugged, again.
Well funnily enough, the report you point to says ‘unplanned breakdowns or planned repairs of aged equipment, with 25% of coal-fired power generation out of action.”
Aged equipment because no-one is investing in new equipment…
…despite Eastern Australia depending on coal for 60% of its electricity (also in that report).
Meanwhile, the Ozzie govt is preventing drilling for Oz natural gas, at a time when there is a worldwide shortage of the stuff. Also brought about by deluded environmentalist policies against fossil fuels.
The lunacy in Oz is only outdone by that in Europe, especially UK and Germany.
State Governments control mining and gas exploration etc.
Unfortunately the areas of responsibility and powers of the three levels of government in Australia are not well understood by Australians generally, but the information is easy to research and find.
True Dennis, but Australians being an urban lot in general have become lazy and are bamboozled by climate alarmists and woke sentiment so will not question or speak up about current issues in case they are cancelled.
The previous Morrison government failed to protect OZ from global dictates on climate issues but less so on energy and resources due to non compliance from state governments who have these responsibilities but believe the AGW climate mantra on saving the planet so blocked coalition initiatives to improve dispatchable energy.
We need much more investment in dams for hydro and flood easement, coal, gas and grids for cheaper power and resilience, and less on renewables. However, this is exactly what the current government doesn’t want to happen for ideological reasons, so we are all going to have a lot of pain for the near future until some sanity returns to government and the compliant media.
Climate realists can say we warned you compliant sheep, but all you managed was bah! Well the hip pocket nerve will finally strike you too through your electricity and water bills if nothing else.
Reneweconomy is a luvvy site for unreliables but you have to wry smile as they advocate for crony capitalism with pet small energy retailers that made hay with false long term discounting-
Small retailers issue plea for help as fossil fuel price surge claims another victim | RenewEconomy
When it comes to storage the AEMO clearly knows the Everest to climb but in green hydrogen they must trust politically-
Wind and solar facing 20 per cent curtailment in high renewables grid | RenewEconomy
Solar and wind are dumping on the grid and the fallacy of composition by increasingly doing that means greenouts if hydrogen tech fails to come to the recue.
PS: In hydrogen they have to trust because in lithium they mistrusted-
As EVs drive off with Li-ion supply, the push to stationary storage alternatives accelerates – pv magazine International (pv-magazine.com)
or simply failed to foresee the obvious resource competition tradeoff. They really are a bunch of economic illiterates groping around for answers to their fantasy dilemma.
Us poor folk in the Land of Oz have had some pretty bloody dumb Prime Ministers.
Albanese is not as sleazy as some of our Prime Ministers, but as sure as shit, he is the dumbest.
Not only are kWh prices rising, they have slashed the prices paid for Feed In Tariffs – the electricity fed into the grid from solar panels.
2 years ago, where I live, it was circa $0.34 per kWh to buy power and I was getting a massive $0.18 per kWh FIT. We thought that was a ripoff but the same power plan now is $0.42c per kWh to buy and as little as $0.05 or even $0.02 for the FIT.
How long before we have to pay to feed power back to the grid? Because batteries aren’t there yet and a lot of people don’t want a potential bomb in the homes.
Australians have voted for rapidly rising energy prices. The policies are supported by both the so called conservative Liberals, and the new Labor Government. Only unpopular minor parties supported cheap electricity.
Australians will have to learn the consequences,
Australia needs to DITCH that pathetic little weasel on his head the sooner they dump him the better off they’ll be