Sharp rise in Green Power bills the fault of Federal Coalition Government

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 January 2016:

Consumers want answers after energy providers have announced a price increase of up to 41 per cent for their green energy contribution to coincide with the new year.

In the days leading up to Christmas, Origin Energy customers were notified that "a rise in the market price of renewable energy" meant GreenPower electricity charges would increase from 3.61¢ per kilowatt hour (excluding GST) to 5.10¢ per kilowatt hour from January 1, 2016.

The increase was so steep, northern NSW resident Russell Mills was sure there had been a mistake.

"I did the maths very quickly and it came up as a 41 per cent increase. I thought that's substantial, am I missing something?" he said. 

"There was nothing in the letter explaining the rationale for it, so I rang them and I spoke to three different people who could tell me no more, just that it was due to changes in renewable energy prices."

In Mr Mills' case, the 41 per cent increase would equate to an extra $77 each year…..

Mr Mills lives with his wife and two children in a three-bedroom home in Clunes, where they spend between $450 and $550 per quarter on electricity.

For the past year, he has contributed to renewable energy through the 100 per cent GreenPower product. However, after being hit with the 41 per cent increase, he has made a "hip-pocket decision" to reduce his 100 per cent contribution to 50 per cent. 

"There's a huge disincentive here for average consumers to actually choose renewable energy. I'm not laying blame totally on Origin, I'm still with them, I just feel it's a bit depressing really," he said.

"We need more renewable energy and there's not really any incentive for us to choose it."

Significant price jumps in GreenPower charges can be linked to the large-scale generation certificates used for the product, which have experienced a steady increase of about $40 to upwards of $75 in the past six months.

All GreenPower providers have changed their prices to reflect the underlying cost increase.

So who is the real culprit in all this?

The fault apparently lies with the Coalition Federal Government and its attempt to dismantle the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme.

Energetics on 9 December 2015:

The protracted negotiations surrounding the review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme and the reduced energy target has had a significant effect on the price movement and volatility of Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) throughout the third quarter of 2015. 

The negotiated changes to the RET can be summarised as follows:

* Reduction of the Large scale Renewable Energy Target from 41,000GWh to 33,000GWh

*Eligibility of the burning of native wood waste as a certificate generator

* Creation of a ‘wind commissioner’ to hear complaints surrounding wind developments.

Following the passing of the RET legislation by the Senate on 23 June 2015, LGC prices have increased to seven year highs, maintaining prices above $70 per certificate….

This unprecedented price movement has come on the back of significant trades in the spot market, as the market is concerned about the number of committed projects over the next 12 months. The protracted negotiations surrounding the revised RET target did effectively put any investment in large-scale renewable projects on hold, leading now to a short to medium term shortage of LGC certificates. 

Future price movements will depend on the quantity of approved large-scale renewable projects in the coming years. Policy certainty, combined with the high LGC price should serve to encourage increased levels investment in new projects and ultimately put downward pressure on the current high certificate prices.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's cost cutting is causing problems in Iraq?

On 31 December 2015 The Australian reported on Unity Resources Group, originally registered in Australia by co-founders former special forces commander Gordon Conroy and former army reservists Martin Simich but now apparently incorporated in Dubai, and what appears to be the flow-on effect of cost-cutting by the Dept. of Foreign Affairs:

The Australian has confirmed that up to 40 Australian protection specialists will be flown out of Iraq tomorrow after accusing their employer, Dubai-based Unity Resources Group, of risking lives by scrimping on arms and protective equipment, bypassing detailed security checks and providing inferior medical support and insurance cover.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has recently awarded URG a new five-year contract, worth nearly $51 million, to provide personal protection for embassy staff from Friday until the end of 2020. Tender documents show the new contract is barely half the $101m URG was paid to provide security for the five years from January 1, 2011 to today.

It is understood the majority of personnel who will leave refused to sign the new work contracts in protest, while at least three others who signalled they would be prepared to sign on again, but were known by management to have complained about conditions, have been told their positions will be filled.

Staffers who remain on the ground in Baghdad are becoming increasingly anxious and do not believe that URG will be able to follow the security protocols required by the DFAT contract in the short time remaining.

Sources claim the limited time to recruit the new protection specialists does not leave enough time to conduct proper background checks, including medical and psychological screening.

They also fear the new recruits will lack sufficient training in the protection of a diplomatic post in areas such as weapons handling and close personal protection.

"January 1st will bring in a swath of inexperience and risk at a time when Baghdad is going through chaotic and unpredictable change," one senior protection officer said. "URG HQ and local project managers' rushed intent of getting bums on seats at any cost to have the numbers for January 1 will result in deadly consequences. They will not have the right people to deliver the high-quality protection the Australian embassy staff in Baghdad rely on." URG, which was founded by former Australian special forces commander Gordon Conroy, declined to respond to detailed questions from The Australian.

DFAT responded to detailed questions by saying its longstanding practice was not to comment on security arrangements at its overseas missions. Sources in the department disputed the claim that URG was short 40 workers but would not comment on the concerns raised by URG staff.

"The Australian government places the highest priority on the safety of all its personnel, especially those in high-threat locations such as Kabul and Baghdad," a DFAT official said.

This quasi-military company has a somewhat chequered past, with the United Nations Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries in 2008 corresponding with the Australian Government over some of the company's actions and whose private military personnel allegedly shot and killed 72 year-old Australian resident Professor Kays Juma and Armenian civilians Mary Awanis and Genevia Antranick, as well as seriously wounding an unidentified man , in Iraq in 2006-2007. Additionally, this company was accused of ignoring risk factors which led to the 2008 killing of U.S. aid worker Stephen Vance in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Ain't that the truth

In a judgment handed down in the NSW District Court earlier this year the judge's opening remark was

This is the twentieth year in which I will make the observation that nothing excites the zeal, the ardour and the passion of the legal profession than an argument about costs.

Read the judgment here.