In
the middle of what is effectively an artificial gas-led energy crisis, the Prime
Minister and Energy Minister may be carefully avoiding stating a
natural suspicion. However, as an ordinary citizen I am not.
It
is no secret that some of the east coast energy producers and
wholesale suppliers - who transmit electricity down the wires and gas
down pipelines - view the Liberal and National political parties more
favourably than they do the Labor Party.
It
is also no secret that a bitter LNP is casting about for ways to do
the new Labor Government harm.
When
listing reasons for the “perfect storm” that is now engulfing
half the country, it would be prudent to recall the four main reasons
being commonly cited by the media and, add the distinct possibility
that the Leader of the Opposition and his shadow cabinet
actively encouraged the boards of east coast power generators to
initially refuse to cooperate with the Australian Energy Market
Operator. This refusal reportedly represented the loss of est. 20 per
cent of the east coast’s needed power supply.
All
in the hope of further destabilising energy supply. Thus heating up
the political situation ahead of the first sitting of the 47th
Australian Parliament. The LNP’s end game apparently being to create
uncertainty in the minds of international investors and drive money
out of the country, to the detriment of the national economy and the
federal government’s ability to raise required funding.
This would not be the first time the Coalition parties have used this ploy - the events of 1972 to 1975 bear that out.
ABC
News,
16 June 2022:
The
Federal Energy Minister insists the unprecedented market intervention
to avoid blackouts across the east coast will continue for as long as
necessary, throwing his full support behind the nation's energy
regulators.
Yesterday
the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) took the extraordinary
step of effectively seizing control of the energy market, suspending
the spot price for wholesale electricity across the country.
It
was the first time such a decision had been made, with the AEMO
arguing it was impossible to ensure reliable power supplies without
the intervention.
The
AEMO had already been forced to put a cap on wholesale power prices,
and had been ordering generators to continue producing power to
ensure forecast shortages in supply in states such as New South Wales
and Queensland were avoided.
Households
and businesses have been urged to try to conserve power, switching
off unnecessary appliances and lights in a bid to ease some of the
pressure on the system.
Mr
Bowen was asked whether it might be necessary to keep the market
suspension in place for the duration of Australia's cold winter.
"I
don't envisage that long, but it will be reviewed on a day-to-day
basis," he said.
"I've
been very clear with the chief executive of the operator. He has my
full support for any action he deems necessary. The government will
back the operator and the regulators 100 per cent.
"This
intervention will not be lifted one day earlier than it needs to be,
in his judgement."
What
is the spot market for electricity?
After
days of power uncertainty, the Australian Energy Market Operator
yesterday declared it was suspending the spot market for electricity.
So what does that mean for ordinary Australians?
Mr
Bowen warned that NSW would be under "significant pressure"
between 6pm and 8pm tonight, but that the market was working to avoid
load shedding.
His
NSW counterpart, Matt Kean, was confident there was enough reserve
capacity despite a number of the state's generators being offline.
Mr
Kean said that AGL's Bayside power station, which failed yesterday
afternoon, would be online in time for the evening peak.
"We're
cautiously optimistic that everything will be fine for the
foreseeable future, but we're monitoring things closely because of
the changed weather conditions and the unreliability of our existing
kit," Mr Kean said.
Some
generators have been accused of effectively gaming the system by
refusing to produce electricity for the market, arguing the price cap
means they are operating at a loss, and only switching back on when
ordered to do so by authorities.
Those
demand notices trigger the possibility of taxpayer-funded
compensation for the energy companies.
Mr
Bowen said there would be close scrutiny on energy producers.
"I'm
not here to second-guess," he said. The energy regulator has our
full support in monitoring all behaviour.
"I'm
not here to make accusations. I'm here to say the regulator and
operator has our full support in any action that they deem necessary
— as they have done and as they'll continue to do."
Market
rules could be rewritten after crisis
Prime
Minister Anthony Albanese said the east coast electricity crisis
could prompt a reworking of the National Energy Market (NEM) rules,
including the incentives for generators to pump electricity into the
system.
"There
are weaknesses, clearly, that have been exposed, and all of the
lessons of what is happening will be examined," he said.
"If
there need to be any policy adjustments, then they'll be made."
The
federal government has said the nation's energy woes are the result
of a "perfect storm" — soaring international demand for
Australian gas and coal prompted by countries weaning themselves off
Russian energy supplies, the cold snap hitting a large swathe of the
country, and unscheduled outages in Australia's ageing fleet of
coal-fired power plants…..
Read
the full article here.
ABC
News,
16 June 2022:
….Tim
Buckley, director at the IEEFA, said it was time these big companies
were "called out".
"It's
not about the energy not being there, it's about too much of it being
suctioned out of our domestic east-coast market off to export,"
he said.
"I
would be arguing we do need a carbon-export super-tax right now as a
big stick to smash these multinational companies.
"They
pay next to no royalties for our resources."…..
BACKGROUND
In 2022 most of Australia’s energy still relies on traditional sources, non-renewable fossil fuels. According to the Dept. of Industry, science, Energy and Resources coal and gas account for about 79% of all electricity generation.
According to a new study by The Australia Institute, Australians have just 4.3 per cent ownership in the companies extracting and processing natural gas across the country.
