Australia enjoys cheap power shock

Thursday 22 January 2026

Yes, you read it right. The last quarter of wholesale electricity has been the cheapest since the Albanese government came to power, averaging around 50Mw/h.

This excellent outcome can be attributed to several factors.

Power usage is well down quarter on quarter, year on year, thanks to a very mild summer.

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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.