Manufacturing and consumer groups are calling on the Albanese government to intervene to stop spiralling power bills, amid the worst energy crisis in decades. auspol energy
A cold snap on the east coast and a shortage of coal at the nation’s largest power station are threatening to deepen the worst energy crisis for Australia in decades, sparking calls from manufacturers and consumer groups for the Albanese government to intervene to curb spiralling power bills.
“It is pretty rough on the incoming federal government, most of which was sworn in yesterday, but we are facing probably the biggest energy crisis in 50 years,” said Richards, whose organisation represents large businesses that rely on gas for energy or as a raw material in industrial processes.
Coal and gas prices in Australia have been driven up throughout the year by war in Ukraine, which has choked global supply, a series of outages in ageing Australian coal-fired power stations, and even flooding which interfered in the mining operations some of those stations relied upon. Tony Wood, who heads the Grattan Institute’s energy program, said there was little the federal government could do in the near term to force prices down. In the longer term, its Rewiring the Nation policy – a $20 billion program to build new transmission infrastructure to link up new renewable energy zones and better facilitate the flow of electricity – should bring more renewable energy supply online and reduce price pressures. But the project could take years, he said.
“Plant outages, as well as seasonal low levels of renewable energy, are contributing to the current tight energy situation, which will improve later in the winter into spring,” the spokesman said. “There is no easy fix.” He said in the current geopolitical climate and in the face of a global energy crunch, any moves by Australia to cut energy exports would not be received well by export customers.