So geniuses, if a lack of coal makes prices rise, what’s going to happen when we shut down more coal?
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By Jo Nova
With exquisite timing, another price rise in Australian electricity arrived just in time for the next election
Aussie power bills set to soar from July 1
As the Opposition point out the Labor government went to the last election telling us 97 times how they would make our electricity $275 cheaper, but with the latest rise, it’ll cost more like $1,300 more than it did before the Labor party were elected. Prices look set to rise about two or three times faster than inflation. But coming after big blockbuster rises two years in a row, even a 5 or 10% rise is nasty.
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER). Being part of The Blob, diplomatically and uselessly blame nearly every part of the system, as though this is just bad luck, even though they must know exactly which single dominant factor has changed in the last 30 years.
Average wholesale market spot prices increased across 2024, impacted by factors such as high demand, coal generator and network outages, and low solar and wind output that drove high price events across DMO regions. These high price events have also affected the price of wholesale electricity contracts for 2025–26.
Meanwhile Minister Chris Bowen, Mr Blackout himself, blames coal and the Russians:
Energy Minister Chris Bowen defended the government’s energy policy, insisting that the unreliability of coal was responsible for the rise.
“Not a day in the last two years have we had a coal-fired power station not break down somewhere in Australia,” he said. “Not talking about planned maintenance, I’m talking about unexpected breakdowns which then see energy prices spike. The government wants to replace that power with “more reliable, cleaner, cheaper renewable energy”, he said.
“What we have seen is substantial world movements in energy prices as a direct result of the long tail of Covid and supply-chain issues, but also of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” the Prime Minister said on Thursday.
https://joannenova.com.au/2025/03/so-geniuses-if-a-lack-of-coal-causes-blackouts-whats-going-to-happen-when-we-shut-down-more-coal/
