Submission to the Finkel Review, Tuesday 14 March
Submission to the Finkel Review, Tuesday 14 MarchConcerns about electricity reliability are at an all-time high in Australia. The blame-game is in full swing after a series of unfortunate events over the past 18 months, most notably a state-wide power blackout in South Australia. Policy changes are needed, but the danger is that our politicians will panic and make decisions that increase prices and make the task of reducing Australia’s emissions harder. It is important that we don’t rush into expensive solutions or an overly-planned approach. Interconnectors and capacity markets are risky investments with uncertainty about future demand – they could hit electricity bills hard. And we do not yet have all the technologies in the market that we will need in future. An overly-planned approach will not provide the flexibility Australia will need to take advantage of new technologies and better solutions as they emerge.