CLIMATE DISRUPTION

Knowing as we do the urgent need to reduce greenhouse emissions to ensure we avoid the impacts of catastrophic climate change, the Australian government's internal wrangling over the cost of energy is depressing to say the least.

We see daily images of the deadly effects of climate change, which intensifies and prolongs storms, droughts, wildfires, and floods. In fact the US reportedly spent as much on disaster management in 2017 alone, as it did in 30 years from 1980 to 2010.

However, we are now becoming aware of other impacts. “Climate disruption” is becoming the leading threat to our built environment, an accelerant of armed conflict, and a leading cause of mass migration.

So why has an issue that should demand a united response become so intensely divisive?

The right wing's ideological opposition to anything proposed by the left, and vice versa, regardless of how illogical that opposition sometimes appears, is stalling what little progress that has been made to date. The fear tactics, famously employed by Tony Abbott over the carbon tax are now being redeployed, this time focusing on rising electricity prices. Of course it's all the fault of renewable energy, and those misguided souls who think coal burning is dirty, unhealthy, and a driver of climate change.

If electricity costs are so critical, why did governments sell off the networks in the first instance?

Sure, electricity prices have risen sharply, but how bad are they really? For example, how many of us complain about that indispensable daily $5 cappuccino, when for the same amount everything in the home can be activated, 24/7, by the simple flick of a switch?

If the government is serious about giving relief from rising prices, why not look at fuel prices? Through necessity, petrol costs many rural Australians far more than electricity, but of course a large chunk of that cost is tax, so a scare campaign over that might backfire badly.

Climate change is real, and needs real action to lower emissions, and to achieve that we must have bipartisanship from all sides if the political spectrum.

            - John Edwards

 This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on July 30, 2018. 

ELECTRICITY PRICES AND THE CARBON TAX

Over the last five years power prices have risen dramatically. A new Grattan Institute report, Fair Pricing for Power, states that in the five years to 2013, the average household electricity bill increased by 70%.

The Federal Government claims the carbon tax was the major reason for the price hike. If this was so, its abolition last month should result in a big decline in electricity prices.  The Government has predicted that average households should expect savings of $550 over the next year on their electricity bills now that the carbon tax has gone.  Whether these savings will happen remains to be seen.

However, prices started to rise well before the carbon tax was implemented.  Furthermore, the carbon tax was responsible for a mere 9% of the price increase and costs associated with renewable energy (another culprit according to the Government) perhaps 4%.  As prices increased by much more than this 13%, other factors obviously had a major role in price rises.

The main reason for the price increase has been the investment in the delivery network – the poles and wires.  Since 2009 electricity networks have spent around $45 billion on upgrading the poles and wires.  Consumers are paying for this investment in their electricity bills.

The network upgrade was undertaken because of predictions that demand would rise and increased capacity was necessary to meet peak demand.  Peak demand occurs for relatively short periods – for example on a hot afternoon in mid-summer – when electricity use rises dramatically because of air-conditioner use.  If peak demand cannot be met, blackouts will occur.

However, since 2009, according to the Grattan Institute, electricity demand in eastern Australia has fallen by about 7%.

There are two main reasons for this.  Consumers responded to price rises by becoming more careful with their power consumption.  And the uptake of roof-top solar (by around 1.2 million households) means many consumers generate part of their household power requirements. So fossil fuel generators have lost market share.

Electricity prices will continue to rise unless governments heed the call for changing the way consumers are charged for their electricity.

            - Leonie Blain

This post was published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on Monday August 4, 2014.