Letter to the Editor: The lesson still not learnt

DEAR News Of The Area,

LAST week’s informative article in NOTA by Mr Andrew Vivian again highlights that we are still fighting the climate wars of the past decade and a half.

I am amazed and embarrassed that so many of our parliamentarians, supposedly well educated, still deny the existence of climate change.

It was explained to us in high school science and my high school grandchildren have confirmed that the science still has not changed since I went to school.

It seems that the National Party and many in the Liberal party are still rejecting the science and the need to seriously reduce emissions.

In particular our two local National Party representatives (Pat Conaghan and Kevin Hogan) have rejected Labor’s net zero strategy and the introduction of renewable energy to achieve this.

Both are maintaining that this strategy is resulting in higher electricity costs.

Both are strongly maintaining that the Nationals will provide lower energy prices, but they do not explain how.

The Libs/Nats have not had a constructive energy or climate change policy in the last 10 years, and after three years in opposition have still not developed a policy or plan.

Dan Tehan, the Shadow Energy minister, promises to have a policy/plan by March of next year.  Really?

However, the Coalition is already promising cheaper prices.

Their plan proposes to extend (“sweat”) the existing coal power plants for a longer period.

This is in spite of the majority of our coal fired power stations being over 40 years old and have suffered from serious unplanned outages over the past seven years, which resulted in severe power price spikes.

Our largest, the 43 year old Earing power Station in NSW, had more than 6000 hours of outages in 2024, equivalent to each of its four units being down for two months on average.

The Australian Energy Market Operator expects that 90 percent of coal fired power stations will be shut down over the next 10 years.

If closure of these is delayed it would increase the risk of unreliability and a further injection of tax payer funds to stay open past their planned closure dates, as well as retail price increases for electricity.

To build a new coal fired power station, as the Nationals are advocating, will take 8-10 years to build at a cost of up to $5B, which will be picked up by the consumer.

However, construction of a new coal fired power station will be unlikely as investors would be reluctant to back such a high risk venture.

The Liberal leader has advocated greater use of gas powered generators and that her government would reduce the cost of gas by increasing its production.

Australia has tripled gas production in a decade and we are still paying high prices.

Gas prices drive 50-90 percent of pricing periods in the national electricity market.

The Albanese government in 2022 introduced a wholesale gas price cap which was opposed by the Liberals.

It is therefore hard to believe that the Coalition will achieve the promised cost reduction in energy by the further adoption of gas powered generators.

The reliance on coal and gas has made electricity prices vulnerable to global market fluctuations.

The wholesale gas prices surged over 400 percent due to international shortages in 2021 as a result of the Ukraine war, and coal costs rose 500 percent in 2022 causing electricity prices to spike 300 percent.

Consequently, the increase in electricity prices referred to by Pat Conaghan was not caused by the cost of renewables as implied.

There is a lot of misinformation about what to blame for high electricity costs, but the truth is that polluting and expensive fuels like coal and gas are the main culprits.

Renewables by contrast offer a more stable and cost effective alternative.

Data from Australia’s energy and science bodies consistently show that renewable power backed by storage is the cheapest form of new energy and building more will help keep power bills in check. This week the energy chiefs warned that abandoning the energy transition was untenable and that renewable energy was still the least costly way of replacing coal.

In 2024 electricity from fossil fuels was twice the average price compared with renewables.

The wholesale electricity prices in the national electricity market fell 27 percent in the September quarter compared with the previous year, which should flow down to lower retail energy prices.

In the USA Donald Trump promised to slash US electricity bills, but they have increased by 11 percent since he retook the White House.

He waged war on inexpensive solar and wind and pursued the use of fossil fuels.

Pat Conaghan and the Nationals are maintaining that the cost of net zero will be $7 to $9 trillion to the Australian consumer.

However, this figure in the Net Zero Australia report was the investment or capital outlay, and not the cost to the consumer.

The Nationals should really be looking at the cost of not taking action, particularly in its impact on their farming electorate who will be most heavily hit by the consequences of climate change. However, climate change deniers, such as those in the LNP, are apparently unconcerned regarding the impact of climate change on agriculture and the prospect of food insecurity.

The Liberal and Nationals readiness to undermine energy project investment by creating uncertainty on targets, is grossly irresponsible.

In the last two elections the electorate expressed its strong belief in the inevitability of climate change.  This Coalition government will never be a viable contender for government until they start listening to the electorate and start to be a bit more honest with their facts.

Regards,
Pieter DE VISSER,
Korora.