27 May 2019 
We all seen stories, petitions and different lobby groups asking calling for energy price reductions; this week we see industrial energy users are demanding an urgent focus from the returned Coalition government on bringing down electricity and gas costs and the end to the vacuum on energy and climate policy that is being blamed for chasing manufacturers from the country.
“When manufacturers start closing and companies like me start saying I can bring bricks from Pennsylvania 16,000 kilometres away and land them in Sydney cheaper than I can make them, they’ve got big problems,” said Brickworks chief executive Lindsay Partridge.
They might not be noticing it but every day companies are making decisions to go offshore because it doesn’t work any longer in Australia.”
Alumina CEO Mike Ferraro said that the Portland aluminium smelter in Victoria is still at risk of closure because electricity prices are still not low enough for the operation to generate viable returns.
Federal energy minister Angus Taylor, who is yet to be confirmed as keeping the portfolio in the returned Morrison government, declared “no change” on energy policy this week, signalling no new policy to bring together energy and climate settings.
While most energy companies have urged the re-elected Scott Morrison government to back off its ‘big sticks’ plans to drive down power prices, one electricity retailer says they cannot come soon enough.
Adrian Merrick, the head of electricity retailer Energy Locals and a former EnergyAustralia director, said power prices had risen to unsustainable levels and, since the market had failed to correct itself, it was time the government took action.
“We’re really supportive of the potential of forced divestment to change the energy sector,” Mr Merrick said.
“We’ve seen an incredible concentration of market power in the hands of just a few companies, they are like oil cartels in setting energy prices.
“It has to help, things can’t get any worse by having the threat of these big sticks,” Mr Merrick said.
Prior to the election, the Morrison government proposed a swathe of new rules that gave it the ability to break up energy companies found to be behaving poorly in the market, set a new basic electricity price and changed how power bills showed discounted offers.
Federal energy minister Angus Taylor, who is yet to be confirmed as keeping the portfolio in the returned Morrison government, declared “no change” on energy policy this week, signalling no new policy to bring together energy and climate settings.
But Mr Ferraro said action on emissions reductions had to be part of the policy response from the federal government.
“We would like to see more, particularly around carbon emissions and greenhouse and so forth,” Mr Ferraro said.
“We do need some guidance, we do need some support from the government to do the right thing, not only for industry but also for the environment, most importantly for the environment and for future generations, we need to look after what we have today for the future generations. That falls very much into energy policy.”
For more information:
https://www.afr.com/business/energy/big-problems-on-energy-prices-industry-pleads-for-action-20190522-p51q38
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/bring-on-the-energy-big-sticks-says-electricity-company-20190521-p51pjh.html
