ENERGY PRICE RELIEF VICTORY AS FOSSIL SHILLS BLEAT INTO THE WIND

ENERGY PRICE RELIEF BILL SAILS THROUGH PARLIAMENT | 

This week, the Albanese federal government struck an historic agreement with the Greens and crossbench to secure the passage through parliament of its energy price relief plan, including one-year coal and gas wholesale price caps, $1.5 billion for energy bill rebates matched by the states, and a mandatory code of conduct requiring the gas industry to maintain reasonable pricing.

The market approved, pricing in a 40-50% drop in NSW and QLD forward wholesale power prices in the first quarter of calendar year 2023 – a phenomenal pre-emptive endorsement of the government's plan, as Tim Buckley noted in the AFR, where the Australian Energy Regulator also flagged the price plunge. (See graph above. Source: Dylan McConnell, UNSW.)

In another watershed, as part of its deal with the Greens and crossbench the government made a commitment to support households and businesses to electrify, and get off extortionate, volatile and polluting gas, with funding to be earmarked in May's federal budget. Finally, we are seeing Saul Griffiths' Electrify Everything vision come to life.

Meanwhile, the coal and gas lobby gushed a torrent of threats, disinformation and spin, bankrolled by their multibillion dollar war profits, determined to continue to line their own pockets at the expense of Australians as they destroy the planet. The Smart Energy Council countered with its own campaign to bust the lobby's BS.

Read our take on the energy price relief bill (a longer version will be published as an op ed in the Canberra Times tomorrow).

MEDIA |

Tim Buckley has been active in the media with commentary on the energy price crisis and relief plan, including in the AFR, an SMH op ed, Canberra Times, Renew Economy, multiple mastheads via AAP, on ABC and Sky News and elsewhere. See a selection of our media here.

INDIA NEEDS TO DOUBLE RE INSTALLS TO HIT 450 GW BY 2030 |

As Tim Buckley writes in this op ed for The Economic Times/ Energy World, India installed a record 15 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy capacity in 2021/22, giving visibility to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious vision of 450GW by 2030.

However, to-date FY2022/23 has seen renewable energy installs plateau at the same run-rate of 15GW pa, rather than the doubling to 30-40GW pa needed to deliver on the government’s target.

To realise India's ambition, CEF calls on the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), NTPC (formerly National Thermal Power Corporation), the state distribution companies (discoms) and all of the State Owned Enterprises (Coal India Ltd, GAIL, NLC India, Indian Railways et al) to collectively step up their decarbonisation commitments and accelerate tender activity to the level prior to COVID-19.

Read more here.

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