Energy
12 February 2019
Only clear policy can give us power supply certainty
The best thing the federal government can do for people worried about electricity reliability is to end the policy uncertainty. It should revive and implement the discarded National Energy Guarantee.
10 February 2019
Blackouts and the politics of power
Increasing extremely hot weather and increasing deployment of solar and wind power create challenges for managing the power system. But Australia has the technologies, tools and systems to cost-effectively meet these challenges without a panic response. We should use them.
6 February 2019
Year ahead could make or break the COAG Energy Council
2019 may be the year in which policy and political maturity propels Australia’s energy system to a better future. The alternative is more depressing outcomes for affordable, low-emissions and reliable energy.
30 January 2019
Learning the lessons of a power blackout near-miss
The rolling power cuts during Victoria’s summer heatwave simply underscore the need for investment certainty that the National Energy Guarantee would have created.
23 January 2019
Poorly considered market interventions: an inefficient path to lower power prices
Australians want cheaper power, and they welcome governments taking on the big power companies to deliver that result. But hasty government intervention risks making things worse rather than better. In this submission to a Senate committee, Grattan’s Tony Wood and Guy Dundas warn that a short-term ‘company bashing’ approach may prove counter-productive.
16 January 2019
35 degree days make blackouts more likely, but new power stations won’t help
Summer is here with a vengeance. On hot days it’s very likely something in the power system will break and cause someone to lose power. And the weather bureau expects this summer to be hotter and drier than average – so your chances of losing power will be higher than normal.
19 December 2018
NSW becomes the key to NEG 2.0
Once upon a time, Australians could take pride in a winning men’s cricket team and a reliable supply of low cost energy. Both have taken a battering in recent times. Yet recent events might just provide some Christmas cheer for both.
10 December 2018
Newsflash. The government doesn’t need to break up power companies in order to tame prices. The ACCC says so
The federal Government should consider divestment powers broadly, rather than rushing to introduce them in one sector of the economy, electricity, because of a concern that its prices are too high.
23 November 2018
Labor’s battery plan – good policy, or just good politics?
Federal Labor obviously likes the politics of giving rebates of up to A$2,000 each to 100,000 households of prospective voters so they can install domestic batteries. But is this good policy that will support Australia’s transition to a reliable, affordable, low-emissions energy system, or is it just middle-class welfare?
22 November 2018
Labor energy policy will be Groundhog Day all over again
The right answer to Australia’s high electricity prices and rising greenhouse gas emissions is a credible climate change policy with enough bipartisan support to be around long enough to win broad acceptance. Federal Labor’s new energy policy is not the right answer.