How the hell did we arrive here you ask?
The answer is because of the joint ticket of energy policy driven by Turnbull’s Liberals and Labor. Last week South Australia made history by achieving the dubious distinction of dislodging Denmark and now has THE most expensive electricity in the world.
“….Australia is entering the “realm of third world countries” with residential power disconnections rising by as much as 140 per cent in six years and the average household paying more than double what it did a decade ago to keep the lights on.
Australian Energy Regulator figures reveal almost 60,000 households are on electricity hardship payments and another 151,862 customers are on electricity payment plans.
Escalating consumers’ pain, electricity prices increased up to 20 per cent last weekend and Victoria yesterday introduced emissions restrictions that would prevent even the cleanest coal-fired power…”
FULL COLUMN BELOW
“…Australia is entering the “realm of third world countries” with residential power disconnections rising by as much as 140 per cent in six years and the average household paying more than double what it did a decade ago to keep the lights on.
Australian Energy Regulator figures reveal almost 60,000 households are on electricity hardship payments and another 151,862 customers are on electricity payment plans.
Escalating consumers’ pain, electricity prices increased up to 20 per cent last weekend and Victoria yesterday introduced emissions restrictions that would prevent even the cleanest coal-fired power.
Coalition MPs yesterday argued it was imperative for Malcolm Turnbull to turn energy policy into a political negative for Labor at the next election, and drive down prices.
Mr Turnbull is under pressure to deliver an energy policy that will satisfy the joint partyroom amid rising concerns that an electricity market reform blueprint delivered by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel will fail to deliver on its promise of lower prices.
Government MPs told The Weekend Australian that state and federal renewable energy targets and gas moratoriums were “overly ambitious”, and they expressed support for Tony Abbott’s alternative plan to freeze the RET, pause subsidies for renewables and explore new coal-fired power generation.
South Australian crossbench senator Nick Xenophon, who controls three upper house seats, yesterday warned that rising disconnection rates showed the nation was at a “crisis point”. He foreshadowed the prospect of even greater government subsidies so people could keep the lights and heating on.
“We’re getting to the realm of third world countries where an increasing number of people can’t afford power,” Senator Xenophon said.
“How can we be one of the most energy-abundant nations on Earth when more and more people are being disconnected.”
Analysis by The Weekend Australian shows that disconnection rates in Victoria rose 140 per cent between 2009-10 and 2015-16, (from 13,486 to 32,360) while in South Australia disconnections rose 122 per cent (from 4478 to 10,546) over the same period. NSW customers suffered a 90 per cent rise in disconnections (from 15,835 to 30,065), Queensland saw an increase of 21 per cent (from 17,913 to 21,667), while the ACT and Tasmania experienced moderate reductions in disconnection rates.
Victorians banking on high-efficiency, low-emissions coal technology to boost the state’s ailing energy supply and to lower soaring power prices have had their hopes dashed with the release of the government’s “Statement on brown coal”.
The government opened the door for investment in alternate uses of brown coal, but effectively stamped out opportunities to use it as new power source by setting an emissions cap almost 50 per cent lower than what the cleanest plants can deliver.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg sheeted home responsibility for the rise in disconnection rates to Labor’s carbon tax, which went into force in July 2012, and was repealed in July 2014.
Mr Frydenberg said the government was taking “immediate action to put downward pressure on power prices” and secure reliable energy for households.
“Recently we announced a number of specific measures to deliver an affordable and reliable energy system,” he said. “The announcement included tough new regulations in the gas sector to give Australian customers priority access to gas supply before it is exported.
“We have also moved to strengthen the Australian Energy Regulator by providing it with an additional $67.4 million to stop energy network companies gaming the system and to restore the primacy of the regulator as the principal decision maker.”
The regulator figures show a spike in disconnections after the introduction of the carbon tax, with NSW experiencing a 38 per cent increase between 2011-12 and 2014-15 — peaking at 32,930 disconnections in 2013-14. Victoria’s disconnections rose 45 per cent over the same period and peaked at 34,496 in 2013-14 while Queensland’s rose by 25 per cent and peaked at 29,692 in 2014-15.
Regulator chairwoman Paula Conboy sounded a note of caution, warning it was “hard to draw a clear causal link” between changes in electricity prices but said that when prices rose more quickly than incomes it added pressure to budgets. “Retailers are required to provide assistance to customers who are having trouble paying their energy bill. If you are struggling to pay your bill, contact your energy retailer early and ask for help, to avoid being disconnected,” Ms Conboy said.
Energy Consumers Australia chief executive Rosemary Sinclair said the July 1 double-digit price rises meant it was “more important than ever” for electricity retailers to work with customers to “reduce the risk of bill shock and (to) keep people connected”.
“We’ve seen commitments from retailers in recent weeks to offer additional support for consumers, and what is important now that they actively promote the extra help that is available,” Ms Sinclair said.
Chris Dufty, who has been researching disconnections for the St Vincent de Paul Society, said he feared that price rises from several major retailers that took effect on July 1 would see more people struggling to pay their bills. “Those bills will turn up and they’ll be in the hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and people will have two weeks to pay before they start getting threatened with reminder notices,” Mr Dufty said. “Two weeks to find $600-$700 that you weren’t expecting is a huge amount of money to find in such a small time.”
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation yesterday wrote to the Prime Minister calling for a moratorium on residential power disconnections until the government abolished the Renewable Energy Target and binned the Finkel review. Senator Hanson, who warned this week that pensioners were “living by candlelight”, said the rise in disconnection rates was “more proof” that the government had embraced the “left-wing climate and energy policies of Labor and the Greens”.
One Nation Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts called for an emergency meeting of the Council of Australian Governments and warned the “flawed and erroneous” assumptions in the Finkel review would result in jobs and industry destruction.
NSW Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who chairs both the Liberal Party and parliamentary environment committees, said there were record numbers on hardship plans or deferred payments.
“To think that, in our country in the 21st century, there are families sitting in the dark and the cold because they’ve had their electricity cut off — how can anyone survive if you have your electricity cut off?” he said. “This is the consequence of policy failure. Everyone looks at the wind turbines and says ‘aren’t they pretty’ — but the subsidies put upward pressure on prices.” He said his constituents wanted a “freeze on subsidies” and were against pushing the renewable energy mix up to 42.5 per cent as recommended by the Finkel report…”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/energy-bill-pain-surge-in-household-cutoffs/news-story/007f79822ccfbc63b9033fd61cc9a74c
“….Australia is entering the “realm of third world countries” with residential power disconnections rising by as much as 140 per cent in six years and the average household paying more than double what it did a decade ago to keep the lights on.
Australian Energy Regulator figures reveal almost 60,000 households are on electricity hardship payments and another 151,862 customers are on electricity payment plans.
Escalating consumers’ pain, electricity prices increased up to 20 per cent last weekend and Victoria yesterday introduced emissions restrictions that would prevent even the cleanest coal-fired power…”
FULL COLUMN BELOW
“…Australia is entering the “realm of third world countries” with residential power disconnections rising by as much as 140 per cent in six years and the average household paying more than double what it did a decade ago to keep the lights on.
Australian Energy Regulator figures reveal almost 60,000 households are on electricity hardship payments and another 151,862 customers are on electricity payment plans.
Escalating consumers’ pain, electricity prices increased up to 20 per cent last weekend and Victoria yesterday introduced emissions restrictions that would prevent even the cleanest coal-fired power.
Coalition MPs yesterday argued it was imperative for Malcolm Turnbull to turn energy policy into a political negative for Labor at the next election, and drive down prices.
Mr Turnbull is under pressure to deliver an energy policy that will satisfy the joint partyroom amid rising concerns that an electricity market reform blueprint delivered by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel will fail to deliver on its promise of lower prices.
Government MPs told The Weekend Australian that state and federal renewable energy targets and gas moratoriums were “overly ambitious”, and they expressed support for Tony Abbott’s alternative plan to freeze the RET, pause subsidies for renewables and explore new coal-fired power generation.
South Australian crossbench senator Nick Xenophon, who controls three upper house seats, yesterday warned that rising disconnection rates showed the nation was at a “crisis point”. He foreshadowed the prospect of even greater government subsidies so people could keep the lights and heating on.
“We’re getting to the realm of third world countries where an increasing number of people can’t afford power,” Senator Xenophon said.
“How can we be one of the most energy-abundant nations on Earth when more and more people are being disconnected.”
Analysis by The Weekend Australian shows that disconnection rates in Victoria rose 140 per cent between 2009-10 and 2015-16, (from 13,486 to 32,360) while in South Australia disconnections rose 122 per cent (from 4478 to 10,546) over the same period. NSW customers suffered a 90 per cent rise in disconnections (from 15,835 to 30,065), Queensland saw an increase of 21 per cent (from 17,913 to 21,667), while the ACT and Tasmania experienced moderate reductions in disconnection rates.
Victorians banking on high-efficiency, low-emissions coal technology to boost the state’s ailing energy supply and to lower soaring power prices have had their hopes dashed with the release of the government’s “Statement on brown coal”.
The government opened the door for investment in alternate uses of brown coal, but effectively stamped out opportunities to use it as new power source by setting an emissions cap almost 50 per cent lower than what the cleanest plants can deliver.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg sheeted home responsibility for the rise in disconnection rates to Labor’s carbon tax, which went into force in July 2012, and was repealed in July 2014.
Mr Frydenberg said the government was taking “immediate action to put downward pressure on power prices” and secure reliable energy for households.
“Recently we announced a number of specific measures to deliver an affordable and reliable energy system,” he said. “The announcement included tough new regulations in the gas sector to give Australian customers priority access to gas supply before it is exported.
“We have also moved to strengthen the Australian Energy Regulator by providing it with an additional $67.4 million to stop energy network companies gaming the system and to restore the primacy of the regulator as the principal decision maker.”
The regulator figures show a spike in disconnections after the introduction of the carbon tax, with NSW experiencing a 38 per cent increase between 2011-12 and 2014-15 — peaking at 32,930 disconnections in 2013-14. Victoria’s disconnections rose 45 per cent over the same period and peaked at 34,496 in 2013-14 while Queensland’s rose by 25 per cent and peaked at 29,692 in 2014-15.
Regulator chairwoman Paula Conboy sounded a note of caution, warning it was “hard to draw a clear causal link” between changes in electricity prices but said that when prices rose more quickly than incomes it added pressure to budgets. “Retailers are required to provide assistance to customers who are having trouble paying their energy bill. If you are struggling to pay your bill, contact your energy retailer early and ask for help, to avoid being disconnected,” Ms Conboy said.
Energy Consumers Australia chief executive Rosemary Sinclair said the July 1 double-digit price rises meant it was “more important than ever” for electricity retailers to work with customers to “reduce the risk of bill shock and (to) keep people connected”.
“We’ve seen commitments from retailers in recent weeks to offer additional support for consumers, and what is important now that they actively promote the extra help that is available,” Ms Sinclair said.
Chris Dufty, who has been researching disconnections for the St Vincent de Paul Society, said he feared that price rises from several major retailers that took effect on July 1 would see more people struggling to pay their bills. “Those bills will turn up and they’ll be in the hundreds and hundreds of dollars, and people will have two weeks to pay before they start getting threatened with reminder notices,” Mr Dufty said. “Two weeks to find $600-$700 that you weren’t expecting is a huge amount of money to find in such a small time.”
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation yesterday wrote to the Prime Minister calling for a moratorium on residential power disconnections until the government abolished the Renewable Energy Target and binned the Finkel review. Senator Hanson, who warned this week that pensioners were “living by candlelight”, said the rise in disconnection rates was “more proof” that the government had embraced the “left-wing climate and energy policies of Labor and the Greens”.
One Nation Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts called for an emergency meeting of the Council of Australian Governments and warned the “flawed and erroneous” assumptions in the Finkel review would result in jobs and industry destruction.
NSW Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who chairs both the Liberal Party and parliamentary environment committees, said there were record numbers on hardship plans or deferred payments.
“To think that, in our country in the 21st century, there are families sitting in the dark and the cold because they’ve had their electricity cut off — how can anyone survive if you have your electricity cut off?” he said. “This is the consequence of policy failure. Everyone looks at the wind turbines and says ‘aren’t they pretty’ — but the subsidies put upward pressure on prices.” He said his constituents wanted a “freeze on subsidies” and were against pushing the renewable energy mix up to 42.5 per cent as recommended by the Finkel report…”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/energy-bill-pain-surge-in-household-cutoffs/news-story/007f79822ccfbc63b9033fd61cc9a74c