In all fairness, I think Labor can justifiably blame the Coalition for the mess that the current energy market is in for at least the foreseeable future. 1-3 years?. energy policies take time to develop - Libs/Nats had 10 years to sort it out... much like AGL has had. What they give us??? Snowy 2.0 for 8b over budget and gas plants... which will do SFA for electricity prices in the current international climate for gas.
Lets not get started on governments breaking contracts... and not expecting penalties
It isn't Labor that force generators to turn on when the price is above a price cap which had to be enforced... it is AEMO... end of the day - the government pays... but this would have occurred irrespective of which political party won the election.
Coal... once considered reliable... now called "usually reliable"... next up is occasionally reliable...
What is bullshit in the current environment is that we have local producers of coal & gas... which have tied their product to a global market price... THIS is where there needs to be a cost control mechanism in place to protect domestic supply and ensure that the fair majority of the profit from that resource goes on to benefit Australians in the form of revenue (dividends/taxes), cost of living reductions or industry & jobs.
Generation capacity isn't the problem... its just with the international spot price being so high, any domestic user who hadn't got a PPA in place to ensure supply is screwed... Electricity Generators are needing $400+ per Mwh to break even - AEMO has a price cap at 300...
Build more generation which isn't impacted by raw material costs such as these, and you don't have as much a problem - ACT doesn't (it has sourced 100% renewable to cover its demand)... the four offshore wind farms in feasibility studies presently will also bring more reliable supply to the market in the coming years... really we need more of these.
Then you have corrupt states such as QLD which too busy filling its own coffers and has a history of manipulating the price market - states should all be forced to separate generation and distribution or privatize both within listed entities which can enable scrutiny & arms length guarantees
AGL Price at posting:
$8.57 Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
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