Aussie taxpayers wear Snowy Hydro 2.0’s enormous cost

Last week, we learned that Snowy Hydro 2.0 is estimated to now cost between $22 and $25 billion, more than 10 times the initial estimate, and won’t be delivered until 2029.

Professor Bruce Mountain is a prominent figure in energy economics and serves as the inaugural Director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre at Victoria University. He has repeatedly warned for years that the Snowy Hydro 2.0 pumped hydro project is an expensive boondoggle that should be abandoned.

In April this year, Professor Bruce Mountain and former energy executive Ted Woodley estimated that Snowy Hydro 2.0 could cost $10 billion to build and $42 billion, including transmission and other costs.