Power prices skyrocket

Turnbull policies make energy unaffordable

Who cares that fewer and fewer people in Australia can afford this most basic necessity? At least we’re saving the planet, right?

Actually no, since nothing Australia does makes any difference to the global climate. It just appeases the idiotic Green/Left activists, while India and China burn cheap coal to their hearts’ content.

The Australian highlights ($) the continuing price rises for electricity and gas:

About three-quarters of households and businesses on the east coast and South Australia face substantial increases in power bills from next month, after Origin Energy announced price rises for electricity and gas.

Origin, the biggest of the three major generators and retailers, confirmed the pressure on wholesale prices from a historic lack of investment in new baseload generation capacity. AGL Energy and EnergyAustralia also announced price rises in recent days.

NSW, which came close to blackouts amid soaring temperatures in February, faces the steepest percentage increases for power, with business bills set to rise 18 per cent, or an average $748 a year, while households will pay about $282 more, up 16.1 per cent.

But South Australians, who faced blackouts from September and who already pay most for power, will face the biggest dollar increases. Businesses are set to pay an average $920, or 15.3 per cent, more, while households will pay $313, or 15.9 per cent more.

As with other “gentailers”, Origin has partly spared Queenslanders, who face rises of 3.5 per cent, or $61, for households and 5.9 per cent, or $276, for businesses in their electricity bills. Origin’s rises for electricity are lower than those of AGL Energy and EnergyAustralia, which have revealed hikes of almost 20 per cent.

Gas prices are also rising, but at a slower rate than electricity and well short of the doubling, tripling and even quintupling of prices for large gas users that had not locked in long-term supply contracts in the past two years.

Origin, which also owns one of the three Gladstone LNG export terminals criticised for soaking up domestic gas supplies, said it would raise residential gas prices by 8.5 per cent in NSW, 9.4 per cent in South Australia and 2.5 per cent in Queensland. Business prices will rise 6.3 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 2.2 per cent respectively.

Electricity prices doubled in the past five years as uncertainty about energy and climate policy stalled investment in new generation capacity, while transmission and distribution networks — which account for up to half the electricity bill — were allowed to over-invest in the assets that are used to calculate their returns.

Soaring prices and the growing risk of blackouts have spurred governments into action, including threats to limit gas exports from Gladstone so the local market is properly supplied, $550 million of investment by the SA government in a new gas-fired generator and an adjacent 100MW battery, and orders by Queensland to restart the Swanbank gas power station and have the state’s generators pressure the market to lower prices.

Energy futures, which indicate prices a year from now, have started to trend down but observers said the measures would not affect prices for a year. The federal government is considering a report by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel recommending a clean energy target to guide investment in generation capacity.

Origin executive general manager of retail Jon Briskin said price rises showed “how crucial it is for Dr Finkel’s recommendations to be translated into actions”.