THE SQUIZ

The Albanese Government is hoping to secure an agreement with the states and territories on a plan to bring down energy prices when National Cabinet meets today. That’s the meeting that was delayed due to PM Anthony Albanese’s COVID diagnosis earlier in the week, and they’re racing against the clock to lock it in with the PM’s promised Christmas deadline coming up fast… Top of the agenda will likely be Team Albanese’s request for the states/territories to cap wholesale coal and gas prices. It didn’t go down when it was first floated, but they’ve had some time to hash things out since…

OOH, DO TELL…

No need to be snarky – it’s a Friday, after all… To recap why we are where we are: Aussie immediate electricity price woes primarily come down to the war in Ukraine and the sanctions on Russia’s energy exports that have pushed up the price of coal. Coal-fired power plants produce half of Oz’s electricity… The idea is that capping coal prices will significantly reduce that input cost, and that could be the ticket to us consumers having lower power bills. But NSW and Queensland – both states where coal power is produced – have been leading the charge against the Feds’ plan, saying they’d need compensation in place of lost royalties worth billions. But they might have backtracked on that… Reports say a deal was smoothed over at a national energy meeting in Brisbane yesterday, with NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean foreshadowing a thumbs-up from the state, saying he’s “almost ready to sign up” and that NSW would “be prepared to take a hit” by not seeking compensation.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

Well, another thing happened at that meeting yesterday – ministers unanimously signed off on a plan to speed up Australia’s uptake of renewable energy. The so-called ‘Capacity Investment Scheme’ will see $10 billion of investment in the sector. Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says moving on renewables is important as Aussie coal-fired power stations age and become “increasingly unreliable”. It’s early days, but state ministers also spoke positively about the plan. Queensland’s representative Mick de Brenni says “only when the market is dominated by clean, renewable energy will we see wholesale energy prices come down permanently”. It all comes as the ACCC, Oz’s consumer watchdog, warns that if nothing is done, power prices could remain sky-high until at least 2024. Yikes…