by Jo Nova
Australia is too poor to use air-conditioning and dishwashers on a warm day
Welcome to Bananaustralia.
The Premier of NSW issued death threats about electricity bills to get attention:
“If you use electricity this afternoon, you’re going to get killed in terms of how much you pay, the amount of money (to run appliances) this afternoon will be through the roof,” he said.
The NSW Minister, Penny Sharpe told eight million people to avoid using the dishwashers and pool pumps between 3 and 8pm, close the doors and blinds, and turn the air conditioner up to a higher temperature. “Stay hydrated and avoid going outside in the hotter parts of the day where possible” she said, like she was talking to four year olds.
All around New South Wales and in Canberra people spent the day wandering around turning off lights and appliances, and rearranging their plans. Public servants were asked to pull the blinds and turn off appliances at work. The four water utilities, the dams, and water management, were also asked to help. And the Reliability and Emergency Reserve Trader (RERT) condition was instigated, which means some businesses were paid to stop using as much electricity. Presumably, Tomago smelter had to go on an electron-diet — since it uses 10% of the entire state’s electricity. But who needs aluminium right?
So most of the state tried to do something useful in the dim light, so they could pay the rest of the state to do nothing.
But it’s OK, because you could do whatever you wanted up until 3pm:
Energy should be used as normal prior to 3pm when rooftop solar panels are powering much of the state. During the peak from 3pm to 8pm, every small step to reduce demand makes a difference.
You can take your productivity and stir-fry it.
The human brain is the most complex known thing in the universe, and this week millions of those biological powerhouses were distracted from whatever they do best by the complexity of living in a world of Green witchcraft trying to make the weather perfect next century. The productivity loss might have been modest this time, but the long term trend is a slow motion trainwreck. The more weather dependent generators we have, the more time we waste thinking about electricity. Should we cook dinner for 10pm? The kids will be hungry.
Killer electricity prices came anyway — $17,500 a MWh for a whole hour
All the effort stopped the blackouts, but they didn’t stop the bank raid. Wholesale electricity prices hit the price cap Tuesday and Wednesday.
Despite all the solar power Australians are swimming in, the bonfire started at 2.30pm and lasted a full sizzling hour. Even though many prices in the wholesale market are hedged, that square wave on an 11 gigawatt grid is a $200 million dollar price signal. The people writing those futures contracts for next year got the message they will have to raise their forward contracts. The price spikes we see today turn up in our electricity bills sometime down the track.
Say what? You were surprised by 38 degrees in Sydney in November?
Summer came early, say all the people looking for something to blame. On Wednesday the temperature reached 38°C at Sydney airport. Barely five years ago in 2019 there were nine days that November above 30°C. Thirty percent of the whole month was above 30.
It hit 40°C at Sydney airport on November in 2006. There were six days that month over 30C. Somehow, with barely any renewables and no batteries at all, the lights stayed on thanks to coal power. Paul McArdle noted at the time that during the 40°C heat, the whole national grid used 29GW of electricity but there was 6GW of surplus power in reserve and ready to go. When electricity was cheap, and no had to hide behind the blinds or cook dinner after 9pm, the coal fired grid had a 21% reserve plant margin.
If renewables fail we should do more renewables:
Experts divided on state’s energy woes following blackout fears
By Alex Dimitriadi and Robert White, The Australian
Mr Bowen blamed volatility in the electricity grid on coal-fired power stations, saying on Thursday that they were its “biggest threat”, spruiking a second-term Labor government’s plan to prioritise renewables and underpinned by gas.
“The least reliable part of our energy grid is coal-fired power,” he said. “There hasn’t been a day in the last 18 months when we haven’t had a breakdown in a coal-fired power station.
Someone needs to tell our Minister of Energy that there hasn’t been a day in the last 18 months when solar didn’t fail.
There was not a single day we could make the wind blow at 6pm on command like we do every day for gas.
There was not a single day when retail electricity prices were cheap.
“What the Australian Energy Market Operator told me was that batteries were essential for getting NSW through yesterday.”
What the AEMO should have shown you was this graph done by one man (why can’t the AEMO draw graphs as useful as Andrew Miskelly?).
Where are the batteries? Not visible. What kept the lights on: black coal, brown coal, and when solar failed as the clouds came over, natural gas arrived to save the day.
Seems people at the AEMO were sweating bullets this week, because they are rushing to sign new reserve contracts.
Energy operator expected to seal long-term reserves in bid to prevent more blackout warnings
The Australian Energy Market Operator is expected to imminently agree to new reserve contracts that once agreed will allow the agency extra capacity ahead of a critical summer period.
The contracts, which could be signed within days, come as authorities brace for a summer when demand for electricity will spike, and the industry remains anxious after a precarious day in NSW on Wednesday when the grid struggled to meet demand.
— Colin Packham, The Australian
Why didn’t they see this coming?
Everything you need to know about politics and economics:
– Prosperity and individual independence bad.
– Dependent impoverishment good.
The rest is obscurantism.
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It’s not even summer yet. Talk about how to overcomplicate a once simple, extremely reliable system. Can’t wait for Victoria’s turn at the great electricity roulette wheel because the whole electric grid appears to be now a gamble.
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Every time I’ve looked at the AEMO dashboard it has been obvious that NSW rarely generates as much power as it consumes , relying on the extension cords into QLD and Victoriastan for the shortfall . Liddell might be handy about now .
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If you want reliable;e, controlled cost electricity then make your own.
Blackout Bowen’s energy strategy is rapidly creating a South African style electricity grid to Australia.
https://theconversation.com/south-africas-power-crisis-going-off-the-grid-works-for-the-wealthy-but-could-deepen-injustice-for-the-poor-200288
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One has to wonder just how far down – temp up – the air conditioners in the NSW & Australian parliaments were adjusted.
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Surely all that hand-waving by Lydia the Ejected would’ve cooled things down? Except her efforts would be nett zero once she started yelling and foot-stomping, raising the level of carbon pollution to never-before-seen toxic levels.
Doesn’t your parliament have a day care centre for unruly ill-tempered children?
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I remember the article here about why Liddell Power Station was worth more to AGL Limited if they shut it down and today I read in The Australian newspaper
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Lets do STRESS testing on the grid.Open the switches on the QLD–NSW interconnector and see how NSW and others get by on RENEWABLES.
QLD HAS ANNOUNCED $1 BILLION to keep our gas and coal fired stations in good operating condition.
Maybe we will see QLD telling australian business ” come to QLD we have the cheapest electricity in Australia.
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Dutton Plan
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If ablutions don’t appear to work, more blood lettings are called for. Welcome to the Dark Ages.
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Coal has been an absolute disaster. 12 coal fired power stations have failed completely in the last decade or so and have failed to re-start. There was a major design fault common to all of them – they had no protection from explosives. When our governments blew them up, they failed. Yes, coal really has let us down.
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Great comment, just the right ammount of sarcasm
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There’s only one good thing coming from this: the general public is finally seeing all the lies exposed.
It is becoming crystal clear that Bowen’s mantras are based on his faith in Joseph Goebbels’ principle:
The BIG LIE by Joseph Goebbels
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
http://proctors.com.au/mrhomepage.nsf/0d6f50f1d7b71ca7482582240033242e/4d1359098409497748258337002d599d!OpenDocument
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I think it will take some time, People are dopey and apathetic and will believe the nonsense of dirty unreliable coal. Everyone thinks they will save the planet with solar and wind. I hear this all the time.
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I find it hard to contemplate how far this country has fallen since the late 70’s.
Unfortunately Dutton refuses to take that last step on many issues such as energy and climate. If you truly believe in your policies you don’t need to “read the script” as he does in Parliament.
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Having been through this already in Victoria (January 2019), this is the Labor governments playbook. Whatsherface Sharpe has probably already rung the Victorian Energy nincompoop (Lily d Ambrosio) for some guidelines. Lily would have advised her to totally demonise coal. Portray coal as being evil, totally unreliable and old fashioned. Ridicule it until the cows come home. The media and the people dont know otherwise. They’ve never heard of High Efficiency Coal or the fact the most Asian nations are using the latest tech in their coal burners. Plus, of course , coal is the great demon climate change baddie. There’s that. The NSW government will trot out all the usual talking points based on BS and give the perception they’re the truth tellers, it will be like COVID all over again.
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Go long on candles, firewood and non-perishable foodstuffs. (See also: water purification / storage. and “long-life pharmaceuticals / medical supplies.))
How to best keep such thing out of the hands of officials (and “freelancers” hunting down “hoarders is up to your conscience.
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Happy Friday to you all………………….The Real Cost of Net Zero………….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbxpieEQ7bc
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Presumably these electricity shortages have happened after the few remaining industrial users have been load shed and paid a lot of taxpayer money to turn off their loads (e.g. aluminium smelters).
I think it’s good news. It might cause the Sheeple to wake up.
Unfortunately the alternative NSW State and Federal government, the fake conservative Liberal Party are still true believers in the anthropogenic global warming fraud and are also responsible for most of the “renewables” madness we now have.
Australia would suffer regular blackouts if it were not for the fact that large industrial users are forced to turn off at great expense to the taxpayer when the wind and sun stop shining.
We get regular load shedding, just like here in Nepal, but it is invisible to most users, therefore people don’t think Australia has many characteristics of a Third World country.
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I give you a turkey who should be roasted immediately before Christmas. Bonehead Blackout Bowen.
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I find it hilarious that overnight there are so many buildings with the lights on in the Sydney CBD and there is no one in them.
The NSW State Parliament Building has the lights on as well. And it still has a tin roof with no insulation from the daytime heat. Do they turn down the Air Conditioning when all those ‘Pollies’ are all letting out hot air and the heat comes down through the roof?
NO. And I will not until they build HELE Coal Fired Power Stations once more provide affordable, reliable electricity.
All that Bonehead Blackout Bowen is doing is giving us ELECTRICKERY…………………
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