Original sin: How the gas cartel ruined NSW

David Llewellyn-Smith discusses the ruination of NSW energy market by energy gentailer, Origin Energy:

- - Origin built an LNG export plant in QLD (along with two others) that has created an artificial gas shortage in Australia since 2014.
  - Aussie gas is regularly more expensive in Australia than it is in Europe.
  - This has derailed the NSW energy transition to low-carbon energy because the state lacks gas to replace coal as firming power for renewables.
  - NSW paid Origin $250M to take the Eraring coal station off its hands ten years ago, thinking it was obsolete.
  - But, since Origin has deprived the state of gas (by sending it to China), Eraring is the last large-scale baseload power in NSW. Now, the government is negotiating with Origin to subsidise it and keep it open.

About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.