The spot gas price has violated the $12Gj cap again as the export cartel chases high Asian prices:
It is allowed to do this because Albo’s gas price cap only applies to contracts. This is incredibly stupid, given it is spot gas that impacts wholesale power costs.
But, for the past week, our luck has held as weak power consumption and good weather have prevented the new gas shock from boosting wholesale power prices:
You can see in the National Electricity Market mix chart how weak gas usage has been in recent weeks. It is usually about 5% of NEM output. Recently, it has been 2%:
Meanwhile, your local councillor is signalling their virtue as s/he costs you a bomb to retrofit your house for no gas:
The local councils of Australia’s two largest cities have moved closer to phasing out the use of gas stoves after signing on to a global movement to push kitchens towards electrification.
The City of Sydney and City of Melbourne have both agreed to build no council facilities with fossil fuel connections by the end of the decade, and to phase out all fossil fuel use in their buildings by 2040 after becoming supporters of the Global Cooksafe Coalition (GCC) yesterday.
The two councils also committed to exploring planning controls that could see the use of gas stoves in new buildings outlawed, similar to legislation already in place in the ACT and Victoria.
It is achieving precisely nothing except a $20k retrofit bill for yourself.
Thanks Grattan Instisute!
If stupidity fueled power, Australia would have the cheapest energy on earth.
