It was the hot topic of letters between former PM Scott Morrison and the Tasmanian government — and it appears there's still no guarantee Australia's poorest state won't pay half the cost of a massive new power project but reap only a fraction of the benefits.
Goanna Energy principal consultant Marc White said under Australia's current energy market rules, it would be power users like households and businesses that would have to pay the investors back through higher electricity bills.
"Under the current market rules, paying 50 per cent for an asset that we only get six per cent benefit from doesn't make any sense, and we would certainly argue against Tasmanians paying roughly half the share of Marinus Link," Mr White said. "The state has been very clear since the outset that we cannot proceed with the project without achieving a fair cost allocation, and as you would be aware, the current regulatory arrangements do not allow for the costs of project Marinus to be fairly allocated among customers," Mr Gutwein wrote in December 2021.
"I am advised reform of the current transmission investment framework, either through the ENCRC or through an AEMC rule change, is unlikely to present a viable way forward in time for a final investment decision to be taken on the project in 2024," Mr Morrison wrote. The then-prime minister and then-premier Gutwein agreed that the Commonwealth would support Tasmania's application to AEMO for a cost recovery rule change.The correspondence between the federal and state leaders was obtained by the Tasmanian Labor Party through Right to Information.
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