‘Renewables-Only Policy’ Driving up Electricity Prices: Australian Opposition

Australian energy price rises slowing, according to the ABS.

Wind turbines at Albany Wind Farm at sunset in Albany, Western Australia, on Jan. 22, 2024. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Australian Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused the federal government’s “renewables only” policy of driving up electricity prices.

Mr. Dutton, speaking on the Today Show, said reliance on renewable energy was also impacting gas prices and inflation.

“I think the Government’s renewables-only policy at the moment is driving up electricity prices, as I say, by 20 percent, gas by 29 percent, and it’s affecting every element of the supply chain,” Mr. Dutton said on Feb. 2.

“So, every farmer has got additional costs for their fertiliser, every farmer’s got additional costs for cold rooms, the glass manufacturers for the bottles of the product that you’re buying in Coles, or Woolies, or IGA, or Aldi, whatever it might be.

“All of that is driving the inflation rate at the moment, which the government’s keeping higher than what should be the case.”

Speaking at COP28 on Dec. 9, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen reiterated the Australian government’s target of powering Australia with 82 percent renewable energy by the year 2030.

“This year, we’ve been busy bringing those targets into reach,” Mr. Bowen said.

However, shadow climate change minister, Ted O'Brien, said at the time Australia’s “renewables only” approach was too narrow.

“An all eggs in the basket ‘renewables only’ approach that the current government is now taking is too narrow. And if you look at the economics and the engineering, it will simply fail,” Mr. O'Brien said at COP28 in December.

Just this week, Mr. Bowen announced a $70 million plan to make Townsville in Queensland a “hydrogen hub.”

The hub will generate 800 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, which would fuel over 40 heavy vehicles each year.

“Renewable hydrogen is a game changer, opening the door to green metals, green fertiliser, green power and supporting industrial decarbonisation,” Minister Bowen said.

“The whole world needs renewable hydrogen, and regional Australia is ready to provide it.”

The Coalition government announced at COP28 it would support a plan to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050.

“A re-elected Coalition government will at its first COP, after being returned to office sign the nuclear pledge and return Australia to where it belongs, standing alongside its friends and allies,” Mr. O'Brien said in Dubai in December.

Mr. O'Brien said renewables will play a really important role in Australia’s future energy mix, but they can’t do it on their own.

Australia’s AUKUS allies and 20 other nations signed an international pledge calling for the tripling of nuclear energy by 2030 at the summit.

Electricity Prices Rose 1.4 Percent in December Quarter: ABS

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Jan. 31 show electricity prices jumped 1.4 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared to a jump of 4.2 percent in the September quarter.

“Over the past 12 months, electricity prices have increased 6.9 percent, down from the increase of 14.5 percent in the 12 months to September,” the ABS said.

However, on Jan. 25, Mr. Bowen reshared a report to X from the Australian Energy Market Operator showing wholesale electricity prices in the National Electricity Market (NEM) averaged $48 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in the fourth quarter 2023, down 24 percent from the third quarter.

The wholesale market reflects the buying and selling of electricity between power generators and electricity companies.