ABC tells 100% renewable Canberrans that electricity prices are rising $300 “because they are falling”

It’s hard to find a more daft example of Pravda-style Public Broadcasting

ABC journalist Markus Mannheim was given the task of making Canberrans feel good about having to pay nearly $300 more for their electricity this year. He also had to hide that the rise is all due to renewable energy. Canberra has now gone “100% Renewable” so there is no other energy to blame. Thus, he’s created an article which actually says that prices are falling which is why they are rising.

Like all good Pravda pieces, higher prices were “always expected” and the only graph he shows is not of Canberra and not about retail prices. Graphs are just eye candy anyhow.

The ABC journalists are apparently being trained to write in the genre of top level teenage girlie-gossip magazines. This is how a precocious, fifteen year old girl would explain electricity pricing to her 12-year-old Youtube fan-club:

Electricity prices are falling. So why are Canberrans’ household power bills about to rise?

EvoEnergy says its charges need to go up because electricity prices are going down.

If that sounds confusing to you, you’re not alone — the workings of Australia’s electricity markets are complicated.

Let’s go through what has happened and explain why.

Yes let’s!

Canberra’s entire electricity use is bought from renewable suppliers, such as wind, solar and hydro-power stations.

To ensure this, the ACT government has contracts with generators across the country, including the massive Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia.

However, to lock in that supply and to help fund the construction of those generators, the government needed to offer them an attractive, fixed price for their electricity.

Now you tell us? Weren’t renewables meant to be cheaper — not “always expected”  to be more expensive. And isn’t $5.50 a week, just a way to hide that it’s “nearly $300 a year?”

Energy Minister Shane Rattenbury says those contract prices were always expected to be slightly above the market pricea difference of about $5.50 a week per household.

Can anyone else hear a used car salesman knocking?

This is the expected, direct cost to Canberrans of living in a city with 100 per cent renewable electricity.

Canberrans won some, now they’re losing some

For the past few years, however, ACT households have not been paying more — the ACT’s price regulator says Canberrans have actually been paying “among the lowest prices in Australia”.

How did that happen? The ebbs and flows of the market moved in Canberrans’ favour.

And the Ebbs will get you every time. (Are we learning yet kids?) The true convoluted story probably has to do with contracts that had contingency clauses triggered by falling wholesale prices, though it’s impossible to tell from this “news” report.

In the scramble for excuses, there are some gems: did he just admit the ACT is powered by dirty black coal?

Hidden among the vague details of interstate trading:

Now, the market price is falling below the ACT’s negotiated prices, which means the ACT must pay extra to fulfil its contracts.

And that’s the main reason Canberrans’ bills will increase — EvoEnergy says it expects its payments to renewable suppliers to more than triple from $42 million this financial year to $127 million in 2021-22.

There are also differences between the market prices in South Australia (where a lot of the ACT’s contracted supply comes from) and New South Wales (where the ACT’s actual electricity comes from). Those differences are currently disadvantaging Canberra consumers.

So the ACT’s “actual energy” comes from the black coal of NSW but they have to pay more so they can call it “renewable” and pretend it comes from South Australia?

But it’s all OK, because Canberrans are already paying $2000 a year for electricity (what’s another $300?). And people can always switch providers, cook dinner at 11pm, or move to Queensland each winter.

 

ACT, Australian Capital Territory, Map.

9.8 out of 10 based on 97 ratings

141 comments to ABC tells 100% renewable Canberrans that electricity prices are rising $300 “because they are falling”

  • #

    This 100% renewable fakery needs to be called out.

    Or better still, force those in Canberra to actually truely rely totally on renewables. Suddenly no power at night, blackouts during long periods of bad weather (we have had a lot of these low renewables generation periods lately), refrigerated warehouses full of soiled food, hospitals forced to use their backup generators continually and close down most of their wards, no power for charging those EVs so beloved of the delusion etc etc???

    We need to call out what is just a financial setup rather than a real thing. But there are many who honestly believe that panels and windmills alone power Canberra, and will power Coles and other companies in the near future….

    471

    • #
      glen Michel

      But looking forward all will be ok with improved batteries and more efficient usage ; don’t use power to heat your homes, cook your main meal when you get home etc otherwise we will load shed. 100% utter lies.

      120

    • #
      Terry

      You can select “100% renewable” (which is total BS) with certain electricity suppliers.

      Why can you not select 100% Coal. Let the punters vote with their feet (and wallets).

      I’d prefer less regulation (and no subsidies) which would see “renewables” going broke, but since we are where we are, let’s regulate the suppliers to force them to declare the actual costs of supply by type (ALL of them) and to offer consumers the option of only buying from the cheapest source. I’ll have coal thanks.

      260

    • #
      Flok

      Smoke and mirrors.

      Governments under pressure are will make decisions just to be seen to be doing something, just like a lot of CEOs. .

      If this is a reflection of expert advice given, it just goes to show the level of expertise.

      Kneejerk reactions cost a lot of money.

      But the proverbial $#*&t needs to hit the fan for something meaningful to happen. Then claw back the costs. Sure, people will pay. GGGGrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

      00

    • #
      Ronin

      The ‘Canberrans’ are actually getting unreliable power that is ‘contaminated’ with coal power.

      10

      • #
        James

        You sound like Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping up Appearances. She asked the electric company if their electricity was as clean as it used to be?

        10

  • #
    David Wojick

    Hilarious (I do not live there.) The difference between the contract source (green certificates) and the actual source (including lots of coal) is well hidden indeed. Any possibility this is just bad writing? Probably not.

    461

    • #
      Jojodogfacedboy

      Governments and politicians need to get out from trying to be business people as they really suck at it.

      280

    • #
      Ted O’Brien.

      Yes.

      I fume every time I hear that “renewables” are cheaper because I expect that the claimant has figures to back the statement up. Figures which include government imposts in the price (cost) for coal and deduct subsidies from the cost for renewables.

      Never forget that the “cost” of coal for comparison should be the marginal cost before political interference, because it is marginal cost product which is being foregone in favour of renewables.

      190

      • #
        David Wojick

        Wind and solar are only cheaper if you ignore the cost of the “minimum backup requirement” or MBR. As explained here:
        https://www.cfact.org/2021/03/21/it-takes-big-energy-to-back-up-wind-and-solar/

        You have to have enough backup generating capacity to meet the entire near-peak need on low wind nights. MBR is hugely expensive.

        171

        • #
          wal1957

          They never mention where the power comes from when mother nature turns off the sun and the wind. Makes a mockery of the ‘100% renewables’ claim.

          BTW…how do those ‘renewable’ electrons know how to get to Canberra? (sarc off)

          100

        • #

          David
          Good article.

          The key issue I have banged away on are the periods, several times a year which are around a week long where large areas are covered with cloud and there is only low wind. We have had much of this on the East coast lately. Its not MBR territory but it completely wrecks the storage argument, as usually storage is only planned to last 10-12 hours. And in these periods it gets exhausted quickly.

          So that is where backup comes in. And the backup has to be virtually grid sized. Who pays for the MBR backup, or the back up here? Brain dead politicians talk about gas but then do nothing for exploration…

          As an engineer, all the renewables crowd keep on pointing to fantastic benefits just round the corner. BUT YOU CANNOT BUILD A PLANT OR AN ENERGY GRID ON WHAT HAS NOT BEEN INVENTED!!!

          Having had to commercialise small scale food processes and do R&D its utterly ridiculous for us to assume that suddenly we will have miraculous storage that costs nothing. But its also ridiculous that the nuclear solution is never ever properly discussed or even put forward.

          20

      • #
        Terry

        Whole of life cost, including:
        Finance, Planning, Engineering, Mining, Materials, Fabrication, Transport, Construction, Commissioning, Connection, Generation, Transmission, Stability, Operations, Safety, Maintenance, Downtime, Redundancy, Backup, De-commissioning, Plant replacement, Plant disposal, Waste storage, Site rehabilitation (and then subtracting direct and indirect subsidies).

        Unless you are factoring in ALL of these things (at least) over the full life of the asset, then claims of “cheaper” by the grifters are total BS.

        We somehow tolerate “experts” that apparently do not understand this (incompetent), or at least have been given sufficient incentive to not call it out (corrupt).

        With honest competence, there is absolutely no reason why Australians should not have the cheapest and most reliable electricity on the planet. It should be our competitive advantage. That it is not is a national scandal worthy of a real Royal Commission; its inevitable findings set to condemn “leaders” past and present.

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        • #
          Tilba Tilba

          Unless you are factoring in ALL of these things (at least) over the full life of the asset, then claims of “cheaper” by the grifters are total BS.

          I would agree – it would be hard not to. However you have left out the most important intangibles – not only do renewables help us save the planet, but they give every consumer a warm & fuzzy feeling every time they turn on a light.

          This is worth many $$ per kWh! 🙂

          But I agree the story by the ABC reporter is very close to mumbo-jumbo. Our electricity bill here in Melbourne (via AGL) is about $1100 per year, $1200 at the most. Gas heating, hot water, and cooking though.

          16

    • #
      ian hilliar

      This is not bad writing, it is bad journalism. Journalists are now trained to be activists, so pushing a narrative is all they can do. Read Sharyn Attkisson’s latest book, “Slanted”. And this from an investigative journalist who started her career at CNN just before the first gulf war, when news was real news.

      50

    • #
      Ronin

      I don’t mind them being used as lab rats in the great quest for ‘clean’ power, can’t see it ending well tho.

      10

  • #
    Lance

    Just wait until Canberrans see the surcharge for “Ancillary services”. That pesky thing called Frequency Control and Voltage support that must be provided because the wind/solar cannot.

    Further on, every rooftop solar owner in AU ought to be paying something on the order of AUD 50 / mo. to offset the administrative overhead, maintenance, and materials costs to keep the grid operational. Those costs exist regardless of who generates the power, but the solar crowd isn’t paying for that. The other option would be to disconnect the rooftop solar crowd from the grid they aren’t paying for.

    I’m keen to try the new ABC logic on my creditors and explain that I owe them less because everything is getting cheaper. 🙂
    ( might be best to use an alias in correspondence)

    440

  • #
    Graham Richards

    Precisely!

    Just wait until we get to the end of the path down which the nation is being led. When all the coal fired generators are shutdown, the batteries have run out of juice, the windmills are idle because there is less wind, maintenance is behind & the sun hasn’t been seen for a week or more ( like it has been of late).
    When we are slaves to the multinational companies providing unreliable sources of energy that’s when prices will treble or quadruple. And there is ZIP you can do about it then.
    We must get away from Paris Accord & all UN climate nonsense NOW! Before it’s too late.
    Coal or nuclear generators take time to build, like 5 years. Once we’re past the tipping point in about 5 years time it’ll be too late & it’s all downhill from there on.

    470

    • #
      Ronin

      I’m planning a slow speed diesel generator that will run on a range of free fuels.

      10

    • #
      Graham Richards

      A little more food for thought. While the majority of those concerned continue to argue about details of cause & effect, %’s of co2, temperatures of land , water, the atmosphere, coral bleaching, electric cars, god the list goes on, we are being unceremoniously shoved, cajoled, forced to go down the dead end of renewables. Time to stop the waffle. Nobody is listening & nobody will stop the inane chatter. Those behind this “zero emissions “ future are quite happy to let us, the people concerned for the future, jabber away, believing, probably correctly, that as long as we jabber on they can simply push everyone further to that tipping point.
      So where to from here. Time to stop the commentary which is 20 years or so, old. We need ideas to get action on this insane journey !

      20

  • #
    Lance

    George Orwell had a final warning he issued during his final BBC interview in 2003.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGuKyBimFvM

    He was amazingly prescient.

    “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face”.

    His vision applies as well to the NewSpeak from the ABC.

    211

    • #
      Greg Cavanagh

      He must have studies communism and socialism pretty well. Probably had first hand experience plus many eye-witnesses to speak with.

      All societies seem to shift toward socialism over time, so with this insight, it’s not hard to guess what the future is.

      90

      • #
        Ian George

        The old Russian saying applies here.
        The future we know – it’s the past that keeps changing.

        91

        • #

          Among other things Eric Blair (George Orwell) volunteered and went to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Sadly died age 47

          61

          • #

            More specifically he was fighting for democratic socialism.

            11

            • #
              Analitik

              Which, as wokebuster points out, led to his disillusionment with socialism as he saw it inevitably led to totalitarianism, just via a different path than the dictatorship he faught against.

              10

          • #
            wokebuster

            And it was during the civil war that he began to discover the Marxist types were just as bad as fascist types. Hence his hatred of all forms of totalitarianism.

            20

    • #

      He died in 1950… you’ve given us a fictional dramatisation.

      from a review that goes into way too much detail

      It mixes documented statements of Orwell’s with words from the text of 1984, and its dramatic closer [“Don’t let it happen. It depends on you!”] comes, as writes Barnes and Noble’s Steve King, from a post-publication press release directed by publisher Fredric Warburg toward readers who “had misinterpreted [Orwell’s] aim, taking the novel as a criticism of the current British Labour Party, or of contemporary socialism in general.” The quotation from the press release was “soon given the status of a last statement or deathbed appeal, given that Orwell was hospitalized at the time and dead six months later.”

      21

    • #
      Tilba Tilba

      George Orwell had a final warning he issued during his final BBC interview in 2003.

      That was a pretty neat trick, since he had died in 1950.

      20

    • #
      Ronin

      Old mate died on 21 Jan 1950.

      10

      • #
        Lance

        My error. The quote is from the 2003 Television docudrama: George Orwell – A Life in Pictures. That was the link above.

        10

    • #

      We’re living in The Age of Persuasion, everything involves priming. Truth to data is by the way, few care to look for it.

      00

  • #
    Eddie

    😅😅😅 Pricing relativism. “Oh look it’s rising a lot less faster than you should expect.”

    140

  • #
    Just Thinkin'

    Serves the richard craniums right, I say.

    Just remember, YOU, the “Capitalists”, voted for them.

    Ah, yes, you reap what you sow.

    he he he

    100

  • #
    robert rosicka

    Has anyone ever checked just how many of these subsidy farms sell their product beyond their capacity ?

    90

    • #
      Greg Cavanagh

      They used to do that a lot when this fiasco first started. But there are heavy penalties now for doing so. So probably not, they’ll be over charging in case they fail in the future to cover those costs up front.

      80

    • #
      David Wojick

      Interesting question! I have assumed that each certificate represents that amount of actual renewable generation, somewhere, sometime. I really have no idea how this green shell game actually works. Including who audits it.

      161

      • #
        robert rosicka

        Every wind farm will have contracted its output somewhere the same for solar etc , we hear of companies and towns even now a state claiming 100% renewable by buying their power from renewable sources but seems to me there is an imaginary excess somewhere.

        80

        • #
          robert rosicka

          I’m thinking they’re selling the difference between what they actually produce and nameplate.

          40

        • #
          Just Thinkin'

          Robert,

          It is not imaginary. It is there for all to see.
          Well, for those who want to look.

          And it is…..drum roll, please….

          COAL fired power.

          50

        • #
          Hanrahan

          Unlike cattle, electrons aren’t branded and can be sold many times as Au and AG are on Comex.

          20

  • #
    Peter Fitzroy

    So the wholesale price has dropped, exposing the downside on a supply contract.
    Now everyone and his dog (excepted the commentary here) has recording this drop, and mostly via renewables as more capacity is added.
    The customer is not seeing those benefits because of the way the long term contracts are written. (And these contracts of 5-10 years are the bedrock or the market)
    So shouldn’t the ports be about the failure of the models which were used to set the price for those contracts?

    For the sceptics https://www.aemc.gov.au/energy-system/electricity/electricity-market/spot-and-contract-markets

    125

    • #
      Travis T. Jones

      The reports should be about how 100% renewables failed to slow or stop doomsday global warming floods, bushfires and snow.

      200

    • #
      robert rosicka

      Peter they can’t fill semi trailers with with wind farm electrons and drive them to the ACT , everything works on paper but in life a little thing called reality can’t be avoided.

      160

      • #
        glen Michel

        I’ll repeat what has been said on many occasions in the past and that is we had an effective energy network based on publicly owned utilities powered by coal. Then privatisation and the insertion of the carpetbaggers. In short we stuffed up a cheap and reliable system and replaced it with intermittancy.

        20

        • #
          Tilba Tilba

          Privatisation was its downfall – same with water. Gas was always private – and it can be argued that telecoms have benefitted from privatisation and competition.

          But not water and power – they should have remained in public hands (in my commie / hippie opinion). So called “markets” – including in that bastion of free enterprise, the US – are hugely and inefficiently managed and regulated.

          Some things should never be left to the profit motive. I would add health, but that’s another debate altogether.

          01

    • #
      R.B.

      Pretty sure that there modelling didn’t plan for mild summers but angrier ones, nor lockdowns.

      Peter Fitzroy asserting a lot that is not logical and linking to something that he never read as evidence, again.

      Wholesale prices were the lowest since 2015. This is because we had low demand. A mild (not hot) summer reduced consumption in the south as well as less electricity used during lockdowns.

      Now the problem is that you can’t store electricity for when you need it at any useful level. The coal not burnt is there for next year. The South Australian government has spent taxpayers money to prop up renewables with fossil fuel generators, a battery and interconnectors to make the grid more like the old coal powered grid. It all costs money. Then when the spot price increases astronomically, businesses must pay. They need to prepare for that. Since the climate is highly variable, like it always was, you need to spread costs over a number of years.

      111

      • #
        R.B.

        I got a thumbs down for “there”?

        10

      • #
        Peter Fitzroy

        If you had indeed read my link, you would not have posted this blatant load of mistruth. The fact that you do not post any links proves this. Can you store electricity? better not tell battery manufacturers, Car makers, or Hydro owners.

        what a load

        19

        • #
          Dennis

          Battery storage? The largest here located in South Australia has a very short period of supply, I understand it was installed for emergencies to maintain grid stability until gas and diesel fuelled generators were started.

          The wreck economy propaganda quotes storage capacity and how many houses could be supplied but fail to mention that supply is for a very short period.

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          • #
            Analitik

            I understand it was installed for emergencies to maintain grid stability until gas and diesel fuelled generators were started.

            That is the POLITICAL justification for the Hornsdale battery but the ECONOMIC reason for its installation (& which 70% of its capacity is allocated towards) is to provide frequency support to the South Australian grid. Frequency support that is required far more often now because of the lack of inertia from rooftop solar and wind farms and their erratic output (a double hit to the grid stability)

            10

        • #
          robert rosicka

          Being a little loose with the truth Fitz , “ Now the problem is that you can’t store electricity for when you need it at any useful level.” Was what RB actually said and since he is talking about the Grid and not a torch in the bottom drawer I’d say he was spot on .

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          • #
            R.B.

            “The coal not burnt is there for next year.”
            Pretty obvious what sort of storage I was referring to. The proposed Snowy 2.0 will provide “enough energy storage to power three million homes over the course of a week.”

            https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/about/

            Costed to be about $4B so make that $10.

            It will also hold a weeks worth of 8 million ev cars driving 100 km a week (Leaf). This is headed down energy rationing, not cheap power.

            20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Now everyone and his dog (excepted the commentary here) has recording this drop, and mostly via renewables as more capacity is added.

      No one here denies that a heavily subsidised windmill, any wind mill for that matter, can sell power cheaply when the wind blows. The extra capacity is added ONLY because subsidies not available to others in the market help meet capital expenses. Beats the hell outta being taxed.

      30

    • #
      Richard Owen No.3

      Peter F:

      The Capital Territory mob made a big thing a couple of years ago about them being 100% Renewables and they had the L.G.Certificates to prove it from their suppliers in SA. As there is no direct connection between SA wind farms and Canberra, the supply for Canberra must come from NSW coal fired but Canberra could offset those emissions with those Certificates.

      The wholesale price has dropped for some reason, but Canberrans are being charged more.

      I don’t know if the Croweaters bought the electricity and charged Canberra $76 per MWh and took the extra profit or Canberra bought it direct. In either case why are they charging their customers extra? I can only assume that the drop in price of L.G. Certificates (due to extra supply from the extra capacity) somehow affects their costs. Have they been buying extra L.G. Certificates for speculation?

      10

  • #
    Tony Dique

    Are people really so stupid/ willfully ignorant/ apathetically unaware that they believe this nonsense? Even a journalist who truly believes in the cause of AGW should have called this out for what it is. For shame, Mannheim. Very poor form.

    170

    • #
      ian hilliar

      using the term “journalist” They are mow all activists, who have no idea what an old journalist meant by “objectivity” and “Lack of bias”

      30

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Infrastructure Victoria panel calls for end of new petrol car sales, amid slow take-up of electric vehicles

    The following scenario could be difficult to imagine, when you consider 99 per cent of Australia’s cars are currently not powered by electricity.

    By 2030, there would be no new petrol or diesel cars sold — they would all be electric or hydrogen-powered. It would be compulsory for all new property developments to have electric charging stations, and governments would offer generous subsidies to encourage drivers to trade in petrol-guzzling cars in favour of low or zero emission vehicles.

    However, these were among the leading ideas put forward by a panel of 211 “everyday Victorians” for an Infrastructure Victoria consultation program.

    Other ideas include trade-in schemes, compulsory chargers

    Nationwide, electric vehicles made up only 6,900 of the 916,968 new cars sold last year, according to figures from the Electric Vehicle Council and Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

    A ban on the sale of new petrol cars in less than a decade would require a drastic shift in consumer behaviour and government spending for more public charging stations.

    Electric vehicle prices are substantially higher than their petrol and diesel counterparts, although offer lower running and maintenance costs. The cheapest new electric car on the market costs $43,990.

    Mr Spear said Infrastructure Victoria’s community panel came up with 21 recommendations after a detailed, five-week consultation process.

    Other key recommendations included increasing charging stations in public hotspots, setting up schemes to cover vehicle emissions and the trade-in of combustion engine cars, and encouraging governments to use electric fleets.

    70

    • #
      robert rosicka

      Victoriastan is the only state that taxes EV’s and rightly so.

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    • #
      Ted O’Brien.

      The only things standing in the way of electric vehicles are the cost of batteries and the price of power.

      If comments are sound the price of power might be in favour at the present time.

      40

      • #
        Richard Jenkins

        Ted, The problem is range in Australia. In Europe a drive from Wagga to Sydney would be an exceptional distance. They drive 100 k a day and can recharge overnight from a gpo. Fast charging is detrimental to batteries and not fast compared to petrol. A trip from Sydney to Canberra would require hours of fast charging on route.
        EV is a crazy concept for Australia. Only hydrogen is worse. H2 works if you tow a diesel locomotive to provide the electricity to make your H2O into H2. Perhaps the H2 is purchased like LPG but the H2 was still made and is difficult to handle as the tiny molecules escape explosively.
        The miraculous battery is still not possible. Many great minds searching for hundreds of years and intensely for decades.
        Battery miracale is wishful thinking.
        It is not like the Edison ego. Edison knew a light bulb could be made as great minds globally were experimenting.
        After his phonograph he bragged he could do it in a year. He hired a team and many options were tried. After the year nothing worked. The team continued and eventually one was satisfactory. I wonder who in Edison’s team actually produced his globe.
        Battery research is far more organised and with the knowledge we have and computer technology I think battery technology has peaked. The most serviceable batteries are expensive, require slave labour, have a huge carbon footprint and too quickly create a toxic waste problem.
        EV is a crazy concept for Australia, North America and South America. Here even our cities are geographically large.
        EV might be okay for a weekly shop but if you live in Lalor and visit friends in Frankston arrange a charge while you are there to make it back home. If they live in Rosebud and you need heating or air conditioning stay overnight.
        EV will not sell in Australia except to AGW zealots.
        Councils should avoid them and state and federally they would be a huge problem without the miracle battery still due next week.

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        • #
          Ronin

          I read somewhere that hydrogen fuel cells will only succeed if batteries fail to work, so not looking good for H2.

          10

        • #
          Ted O’Brien.

          Yes. I can’t see batteries ever getting cheap enough to allow the motor vehicle affordability we are accustomed to.

          Range? A lot of people don’t need much.

          Chatging time? I can’t see any reason why batteries could not be swapped more quickly than filling a car with petrol.

          That would give the benefit of charging out of the vehicle at whatever time suited the sun and the wind. But…the cost?

          00

        • #
          David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

          G’day R J,
          I actually saw an EV plugged into our town’s (only) charger the other day! The first in months for me. (But at the risk of becoming boring I must add that I don’t stand around watching and counting, and the surrounding hills preclude the occasional sampling from home.)
          Cheers
          Dave B

          00

      • #
        OldGreyGuy

        To the dismay of many onwners they do require maintenence…

        https://youtu.be/_VbDgBZTUWg

        50

        • #
          Dennis

          And around 20 years of operation, intermittent operation of course, they must be dismantled and replaced costing a lot of money which is likely to exceed the return on investment including taxpayer subsidies included in operating profits.

          It will be interesting to watch to see how many major shareholders who know this retain their shareholding and if remaining shareholders agree to replace all of the assets, or abandon the installation.

          00

      • #
        Just Thinkin'

        If you think through right to the
        end for EVs, you will realise that
        there won’t be enough electricity
        to charge them all if we get rid
        of coal fired power stations and take
        all the ICE (internal combustion engine)
        powered vehicles off the road.

        00

    • #
      wal1957

      Mr Spear said Infrastructure Victoria’s community panel came up with 21 recommendations after a detailed, five-week consultation process.

      Any mention as to where they would get the electrickery from?
      To an unedumacated person such as myself I would have thought that would be the number one issue. As for government subsidies for trade-ins and the buying of EVs? Wow! Get the money printing presses rolling!

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    • #
      David Benn

      A ban on the sale of new petrol cars in less than a decade would require….government spending for more public charging stations.

      Just checking – how much ‘government spending’ was involved in setting up the ICE ‘charging station’ network?

      Not sure about Oz, but here in the UK it was somewhere around £0…..

      40

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Infrastructure Victoria panel calls for end of new petrol car sales, amid slow take-up of electric vehicles

      The beatings will continue until morale improves OR if you don’t buy EVs because you don’t want them VE HAFF VAYS!!!

      Seriously, are they going to replace the old fruit fly gates across the Murray with crushers for ICEs?

      00

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        Hanrahan

        Your comment is awaiting moderation.

        Bugger! The algorithm didn’t like THAT comment
        Faint heart ne’er won fair lady.

        An all EV private fleet would destroy that part of tourism that makes Australia unique. You couldn’t, on an impulse, choose The Great Ocean Road if travelling in that area. Any deviation off H1 would need to be planned and an extra day for charging at the motel would be the norm.

        But what if it was mandated that trucks be EV? There would need to be a parallel highway to the bitumen one: A 275kV line connecting Mt Isa, Darwin, Alice, The Threeways and every other truck stop in the west. I have no idea where the business end of this line would connect.

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          James

          How well will a Tesla Semi perform hauling a 3 trailer road train? No that will I bet!

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            Richard Owen No.3

            Simple, add a fourth trailer for the extra batteries … and a fifth for the generator and fuel.

            Seriously hydrogen would be just as bad for range* as well as other problems (like who pays for the damage to the road when there is a “unforeseen misfunction”.

            * hydrogen is very low density. An equal VOLUME of liquid hydrogen will give you a quarter of the range that the same volume of diesel gives.

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    Travis T. Jones

    “Aren’t renewables meant to be cheaper?”

    We were told the sun and the wind are free!

    Luckily, not everyone is stupid enough to believe that.

    Except in Canberra.

    When will ScoMo start raising the roads 3 feet in Canberra to avoid the rising seas that Obama and Swampy Joe slowed?
    Mount Kosiuszko summit might 3 feet underwater, but at least you can drive there to see it.

    Sadly ScoMo won’t call out this drivel.

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    GD

    Brilliant, Jo!

    Such a joy to see Canberrans twist themselves into knots trying to justify paying more for less reliable power.

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    Delta

    Ok, can someone enlighten me here? The ACT government has contracted for electricity to supply all of Canberra. Is the for all times of the day King Canute style? Farcical. Anyway, it appears that the ACT government must have passed legislation to interpose this electricity procurement on all retailers operating in the ACT requiring them to pass on the higher costs for the ACT government contracted electricity? Is this correct or if not, what is the mechanism by which the ACT government can interpose their pricing in the contract for the supply of electricity normally between a customer and an electricity retailer? Does this make the ACT government an electricity supplier and if so, how does it all with the National Electricity Rules, Law and Electricity Supply Act? Could the ACT government be held liable in any way for their actions?

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      RickWill

      All States retain the right to legislate how the retail market works in their State. That is why COAG always gets bogged down in discussions on electricity.

      ACT has legislation that sets out the reverse auction process that their electricity retailer must follow.

      EvoEnergy voluntarily surrender all LGCs. I think this is part of the legislation. The number of LGCs surrender would be around 3 times the number needed under the RET so selling excess LGCs rather than surrendering them would be a way to offset some of the additional charges.

      Although EvoEnergy will be paring for the difference between the contract price and wholesale, that should not have impacted on the cost of electricity. There must be other charges involved such as high FCAS costs in the wholesale market and higher local distribution costs.

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    PeterS

    What else does one expect for the left and neo-conservatives? Up and is the new down.

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    graham dunton

    Wash your mouth out- dirty black coal?
    No, it’s Its clean energy black coal? propping up those dirty expensive renewables?

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    Sean

    When renewable energy operators said they needed “certainty” to invest in building out renewable energy generators I’d always maintained that was a euphemism for guaranteed profitability. Mr. Manneheim is simply explaining how that is achieved.

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      Lucky

      Certainty- means that amount and timing of inward cash flows are guaranteed by government.

      But for the electricity they produce- wind, sunshine and cloud cover, translate to unreliability.

      Greed. Yes.
      Capitalism. No. More like anti-capitalism.

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    Terry

    Dear Canberrans,
    * Renewables are cheaper (the cheapest on the planet);
    * Canberra is 100% Renewable
    * Therefore, prices are rising.
    Get it?
    #canberralogic

    These people are drilling holes in our hull to stop us from sinking and to save us from rising seas
    #batshit crazy

    The antidote:
    1. Stop them drilling holes;
    2. Cast them overboard (with or without a lifeboat, I’m not that fussed);
    3. All ahead flank (lest they think about trying to re-board)

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    Simon B

    $300? Isn’t that the amount the average Canberran bureaucrat or political ‘adviser’ gets on their flexi day off?

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      Philip

      Yes. I think that’s the truth and core of it. All these opinion / decision makers couldn’t care less if it went up $2000, that’s chicken feed to them and their generous wage. And seriously it’s why they couldn’t care less.

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    Ross

    Was dumping some old files a few weeks ago. Found a 2007 electricity invoice for a property I own. Back then Peak/Off peak use prices were 18.01 /7.21 c/kWh respectively for this property. I have not altered contracts or changed suppliers since then. A present invoice shows those prices to be now 31.56/20.19 c/kWh. Thats a 75%/180% increase in electricity supply prices over a 13 year period. Factoring in inflation over that 13 year period and using those 2007 prices as a starting point the prices should be 24.13/9.76 c/kWh – which is approximately 35 % increase. Ok , fair enough there should be maybe more than inflation increases for other added costs or extra grid maintenance ( gold plating?). Perhaps 50 %, but not 75 and 180 % increase, It’s the off peak price increase that’s the worse – 180 %!! So much for renewables making power cheaper and so much for using cheaper off peak power etc. I suppose I should change providers or maybe tweak the contract – but who can be bothered, I suspect I would end up with a similar result.

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      Ted O’Brien.

      Forget the notion of gold plating. That’s a myth.

      What happened was that uncertainty on the political scene caused suppliers to defer upgrading networks to cater for increased power usage. They feared a reduction in demand.

      Then a major supply line in Sydney failed due to overload. This triggered the necessary catch up which Julia Gillard called Gold Plating.

      Make no mistake about them. Their idea is that 24/7 availability is gold plating.

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      Philip

      This change supplier to save stuff is simply peanuts. Completely irrelevant.

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    Peter C

    I was inclined to write an email to Marcus Mannheim and to the editor of the ABC on line to give them my feedback on his article.

    I could not find any contact details, more is the pity.

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    Australian Capital Territory Electrical Power Consumption:

    Claimed – 100% Renewable
    Actual – 80.8% Fossil Fuelled

    No matter what they try and say, nudge nudge, the ACT is connected to the NSW grid.

    “Say, look at my shiny new Rolls Royce, aren’t you jealous?”

    “But, mate, that’s a 2001 Holden Astra.”

    “No it’s not, The salesman told me it’s a Rolls Royce.”

    Tony.

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    • #

      Our fuel bills do not pay any coal fired generators.

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      • #
        robert rosicka

        No but your electricity bills sure do.

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        GI says hey look over there.

        Our fuel bills do not pay any coal fired generators.

        Well, how disingenuous is that then, eh?

        You pay your electricity account to the ….. RETAILER.

        The retailer purchases electricity ….. from the grid supply at the time.

        Please GI, oh please tell me how that, umm, RETAILER ensures just the renewable power percentage of the grid is supplied to your home.

        The retailer says it’s 100% renewable.

        You know, the same way the car salesman told that guy it was a Rolls Royce.

        You could have as many as, well, however many retailers there are in the ACT delivering power to the homes either side and opposite you and up and down the street. EVERY SINGLE ONE of them are supplied by the grid.

        Tony.

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          Steve of Cornubia

          From Wiki:

          … a troll is a person who starts flame wars or intentionally upsets people on the Internet. This is typically done by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog), with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses and normalizing tangential discussion. This is typically for the troll’s amusement, or to achieve a specific result such as disrupting a rival’s online activities or manipulating a political process.

          Just ignore it, Tony.

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          • #

            Not so Steve.

            And thanks Tony for your response but it isn’t quite like that. The money goes to the actual suppliers by the retailers as mandated. It does not go to the coal fired power generators except when there is a renewable shortfall (and I guess you can inform us about those instances).

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            • #

              I’m thinking you will state the obvious that, just like we can’t sort the electrons coming into the state, you can’t sort the dollars going out either. I concede that is true in the marketplace as it is structured.

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        wal1957

        GI

        Our fuel bills do not pay any coal fired generators.

        You do if you use any electricity from the grid.

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    Dennis

    I would like to know how electricity consumers that claim to use renewable energy sources but remain connected to the electricity grid can identify the electricity that is supplied from so called renewable sources.

    And do they not accept any other electricity?

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      Ted O’Brien.

      What they are in fact doing is claiming rights with profits attached over other people who, though equally qualified to entitlement for those rights have not lodged a claim.

      They can get away with it until everybody lodges a claim.

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      Ronin

      Surely there is a case here for the ACCC to get involved as there is seriously some BS being spread around as to the provenance of the supplied electrons.

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    Robber

    NSW wholesale prices per AEMO:
    2019 $89
    2020 $72
    2021 $49
    Those “experts” in ACT probably signed up to 100% windmills on a long term contract in excess of $100/MWhr, and when “renewable certficates” were selling for a further $80 subsidised by other consumers.
    Of course the rest of the country would likely celebrate if the lights went out in Canberra.

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    Philip

    I think you’re being harsh on the ABC journalist. Most journalism that comes out of the ABC now is like Buzzfeed 8 years ago. I doubt anyone there is over 27 years old. Compared to that I’d give this journalist a reasonable grade, he didn’t mention dying animals and cleared forests once.

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    Paul Callandeer

    The last quotes show some real howlers of either misunderstanding or deliberate obfuscation of the contract/ market prices. Despite the claim that EV must pay more because the market price has fallen below the contract price, this is not so. EV will pay the contract price as it always has. They will not get the benefit of the lower market price. So the most one could accurately say is that EV will this year be paying more than if they did not have a contract but that is the cost of certainty.
    Also, I am intrigued as to why EV expects payments to its RE suppliers to triple in the next financial year. According to their boasts ACT is already “enjoying” 100% RE so the $42 million this year must be covering those costs. Why a tripling to $127 million next year for essentially the same supply? There may be a CPI and volume element to the increase but together that would amount to less than 10% of that 300%!

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    You all think this is funny. I have to live here!

    btw- no possessive in the title – Canberrans. Also what is a 100% renewable Canberran?

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    Yarpos

    Purely and simply the price of virtue signalling. Saying you are 100% renewable while sitting in the middle of the predominantly coal/gas fired grid is quite delusional.

    They can maintain a facade through shuffling contracts but the output of a wind farm 1000kms away in SA (as the wire runs) has zero to do with the real source of power in the ACT.

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    Damon

    A really annoyed Canberra population would be hugely amusing.

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      Dennis

      Maybe they could ask their union to help them, the public service is now the source of most union members.

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      Hanrahan

      A really annoyed Canberra population would be hugely amusing.

      Never happen. Canberrans have a civic pride that gives them a high threshold of pain.

      No one can like Canberra can.

      Even my country raised brother was infected.

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    Ross

    Wouldn’t you just love it if the Canberrian (Canberran?) power supply was actually linked to the Horndale Wind Power Generation facility in SA? (..hate calling them “farms”) Imagine watching Question Time and the lights dimming as the wind drops at that facility. 🙂

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    • #

      Love it or not – the ACT is a major investor and trades the output of the farm with the input into the ACT.

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        Ross

        Wind Power Generation Facilities run at about 30-40% capacity factor worldwide. In Australia it’s a shade under 30% capacity factor. Then worse still, big fact nada (0) production when the wind’s not blowing. “Would the honourable member for Warringah please turn the torch on , on his mobile phone, so that we can locate him better please, thank you”. That’s what would happen if ACT power supply was actually supplied by RE. 🙂

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        Hanrahan

        the ACT is a major investor and trades the output of the farm with the input into the ACT.

        You know, we all know that. Why the pretence that this is anything other than another subsidy?

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      Ronin

      For Cantburra to truthfully call its power supply 100% renewable, it should not be connected to any non-renewable supply, if that was the case, I would watch ‘Question Time’ every day.

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        Analitik

        I’ve said before that the ACT grid should be connected through a controllable source like a massive inverter or isolation generator and this source be controlled by the summed output of their contracted renewable sources. Then they could have the proper experience of 100% renewable electricity.
        I would be happy to contribute to a tax that funds this isolation source.

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    Noela ADAMS

    Surely the bright sparks in Canberra are duping their power customers to pay for something that true?

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    tygrus

    Based on the data, I would estimate the increase adds about $0.035 per kWh ($35/MWh on top of previous). They may have had long term contracts higher than the average wholesale price (NSW grid) then we had a few years of higher wholesale prices which means they saved money. Now the wholesale prices have fallen below their contract prices they are paying more for the privilege of going green. Actual $/kWh seem same or less than many in NSW so paying more must be relative to an unknown. But how much more renewable capacity has been created while they use creative accounting (certificates & offsets) to claim they can help save the world?

    A separate issue is:
    If the State mandates ##% use of renewable energy generation by the grid then why are consumers charged extra when selecting less than or equal ##% green power?
    If we have a 20% target & existing REC system, why are consumers offered plans with higher prices for 10% or 20% in NSW and 100% (or less) in the ACT? That would mean paying twice. Some people must be very gullible.

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      Richard Owen No.3

      I suggest that you said that it was an extra 3.5¢ per kWh.
      I think most people would read that as very little as most have no idea how many MWhs they use. An average would be 6.5MWh per year, but likely to be more in Canberra where all good AGW believers would only use electricity for heating. $300 extra would indicate so.

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    Hanrahan

    We know SA has been trying to get someone else to pay for an inter-connector to NSW. Does that now exist? If not this is simply an invoicing exercise, all sound and fury, signifying nothing.

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    Matthew Bruha

    Unfortunately us Canberrans only have one electricity supplier so we have no choice in the matter. And the ACT government isn’t going to be linking gas to new suburbs so that won’t be an option either for heating or cooling.

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    roman

    As a rational man I ask here a simple technical question…
    If someone were to attach this journalist to the end of a windmill blade, and let the thing pick up to some high speed, then released the chains, how far would he be flung?

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    CHRIS

    Roman…angular momentum. Would depend on length of windmill blade. Hopefully the journalist would be flung far and wide.

    10