Random dudes think so, at The Australian: Electricity bills will soar and gas and coal-fired power stations will close if the share of wind and solar generation increases dramatically, engineers have warned after analysing the nation’s energy supply. The analysis casts doubt on Labor’s claim that a 50 per cent renewable energy target — the
The campaign against gas reservation has begun at the AFR. Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher: …Australia relies on foreign investment, but sovereign risk is rising fast. In a low-risk country, governments recognise that contracts between commercial parties must be honoured and not broken by governments favouring one party over another. In a low-risk country, governments do
At The Conversation we find joyful (24 hours late for you guys): Bill Shorten will turn the energy spotlight onto gas on Monday, proposing measures Labor says will put downward pressure on prices for manufacturers and power generators and so benefit jobs and households. A Labor government would introduce a permanent gas export control trigger
Via Domainfax on the Coalition’s climate change self-flagellation: …The policy ructions did not go unnoticed at a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade in Brussels, where the EU’s chief negotiator on the deal, Helena König, faced angry questions from the floor over Australia’s commitment to climate action. …In a video of this
Can it be that at the cost of the east coast energy shock and one prime minister the gas cartel’s time has finally come? Via the AFR: Senior executives from Santos, Origin Energy and Shell are set to be summoned to a meeting with federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan within two weeks ahead of a
At The Australian PM Morrison’s new energy man, Angus Taylor, speaks: “I’m focused on getting prices down while I keep the lights on. I’ve got one KPI. I’ve got one goal,” he told The Australian. …The key points of the new Morrison-Taylor plan were flagged by Mr Turnbull last week after the collapse of the
From Gottiboff: What I want to see from Angus Taylor is the truth and the whole truth. A series of state politicians, led by those in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, set themselves high renewable targets and began subsidising vast investment in wind and solar farms, as well as other renewable projects, including
By Leith van Onselen The Victorian Greens are at it again, warning that the ‘urban heat island effect’ risks costing vulnerable Melbournians their lives this summer and calling for mitigating policy action: Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam said in her time at Moreland council, the heat island effect was a significant issue for her and her colleagues.
Via the ABC: Malcolm Turnbull’s son has lashed out at vested interests in the Queensland coal mining industry, who he says are exerting undue influence over the Liberal Party’s energy policy. Alex Turnbull, who describes himself as a keen environmentalist, studied economics at Harvard and runs a private hedge fund in Singapore. Before leaving Australia
Via Domainfax: Alex Turnbull blamed “rent-seekers” backing the coal industry for felling his father Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister, saying it’s “impossible” to vote for the Liberal-National coalition “in good conscience” because of its climate stance. “He was snookered,” Mr Turnbull said of his father’s fate. “You don’t know how hard he worked on this
Finally somebody talking sense on energy and gas. And it wasn’t the other bloke.
As a PM, if you let your country get eaten alive by rent-seekers’ devouring the fundamentals of your civilisation then you deserve everything that you get. This is the sad and sorry truth now confronting Australia’s worst ever PM, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull. The Turnbull Government has been staggeringly slow to recognise the wreckage of the energy
At The Australian today: Malcolm Turnbull will try to head off the potential resignation of several ministers over the national energy guarantee with a promise to rebel MPs that the three big energy companies will be targeted for market manipulation and deliberately inflating power prices through secret contracts. However, senior ministers have told The Australian this would not
On both sides. From The Australian: Federal government ministers are coming under pressure from colleagues to resign over the national energy guarantee in a counter-campaign by rebel backbenchers that risks further eroding Malcolm Turnbull’s authority as his attempts to win the support of wavering Coalition MPs appeared to be failing. As the Prime Minister held
It may come as a shock but the former One Steel/Arrium dog is now the birthplace of the Australian energy future, via the AFR: British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta expects to begin construction of the Cultana solar energy project which encompasses 780,000 solar panels near the revived Whyalla steelworks early in 2019 as part of a broader $1.37
Via the AFR: The Turnbull government is fast-tracking a policy to underwrite a new coal-fired power station as it seeks to win the support of wavering conservative MPs for the National Energy Guarantee at Tuesday’s Coalition party room meeting. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims, who recommended the government underwrite new dispatchable power
Via Peter Hannam: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told the Queensland Media Club a month ago that his “obsession” was cutting energy bills. Climate barely got a look-in, even in a state seared by a multi-year drought that is spreading south to occupy all of NSW and is encroaching on northern Victoria. Brisbane itself was in
NEG propaganda is now as widespread as climate change itself, at The Australian: The Australian Energy Market Operator could be forced to intervene more often to prevent blackouts in Victoria, as energy users warn of extra costs in excess of $300 million if Labor states veto the national energy guarantee. Large energy users across the
By Leith van Onselen The Australia Institute’s (TAI) Climate & Energy Program has released updated analysis assessing the value and effectiveness of the current NEG using figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). The Analysis presents several scenarios showing much larger emission reductions and levels of renewable energy generation under the National Electricity Market
By Leith van Onselen Back in March, Dr Jonathan Sobels – a senior research fellow at the University of South Australia and the author of a key 2010 report prepared for the Department of Immigration entitled Long-term physical implications of net overseas migration: Australia in 2050 – gave a brilliant incisive interview on ABC’s Radio
The BBC has it: It may sound like the title of a low budget sci-fi movie, but for planetary scientists, “Hothouse Earth” is a deadly serious concept. Researchers believe we could soon cross a threshold leading to boiling hot temperatures and towering seas in the centuries to come. Even if countries succeed in meeting their
by Chris Becker Elon Musk has “surprised” the market by laying out a tentative plan to privatise the currently publicly listed Tesla electric car/solar energy company with a $420 per share price offer. Shares lifted nearly 11% to finish at just below $380 per share in response, following a similar surge after the Q2 earnings
Cross-posted from The Conversation: The final design document for the National Energy Guarantee (NEG), released this week, contains a range of claims about the policy’s ability to drive down both greenhouse emissions and electricity prices. But still there is precious little detail on how exactly these assertions are backed up. Specifically, two claims in the
by Chris Becker Long term Macrobusiness readers have grown savvy to the underlying ideologies that imbibe the media narrative. Domainfax pushes property, The Australian raison de etre is to kill Labor, The Smage and Guardian espouse the faux left empty shrillness. The AFR says business is awesome. You won’t believe what news.com.au says, click here
By Leith van Onselen First the company tax cuts. Now the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) has divided the Turnbull Government, with various Coalition MPs slamming the policy. Here’s Tony Abbott: Tony Abbott has attacked the final design of Malcolm Turnbull’s signature energy policy, labelling claims it will reduce prices as “wrong” and “completely implausible”. The
Via The Australian: Fresh gas shortages on Australia’s east coast could emerge from mid-2019 — two years sooner than official forecasts — due to a sharp decline in Victorian offshore gas production piling renewed pressure on domestic prices, a private firm fronted by former BHP executives has warned. Venice Energy, the Mitsubishi-backed venture that aims
Sometimes you have to look on in a kind of reverse awe, via The Australian: Key Senate crossbenchers Pauline Hanson and David Leyonhjelm have warned Malcolm Turnbull they could sink his national energy guarantee if he is forced to rely on independent support to secure his signature energy reform. The One Nation Leader said yesterday
Via The Australian: Federal Labor has condemned Malcolm Turnbull’s national energy guarantee, declaring its “pathetic’’ emissions cuts will stifle renewable energy investment, threatening to extend a decade-long policy deadlock that has sent electricity prices soaring. Labor hardened its position on the NEG yesterday as the government offered an olive branch to wavering states, pledging a
Via The Guardian: Josh Frydenberg has offered an olive branch on the national energy guarantee, telling state energy ministers the emissions reduction target can be reviewed after five years – stepping back from an ambit claim that it be locked in for a decade. The concession is flagged in a commonwealth paper circulated to the states late
Via Reneweconomy: Barely a week after submissions closed on the Turnbull government’s proposed National Energy Guarantee, a “decisions” paper of the controversial policy proposal has been delivered to state and territory governments, ahead of the crucial August 10 COAG Energy Council meeting. The 39-page Energy Security Board document has been distributed and a copy obtained
