Scott Morrison says Labour’s energy policy would push up average electricity bills by $560 a year – but the opposition has branded the claim as another ‘fear campaign’.
If elected, Anthony Albanese will spend $20 billion of taxpayer money to create a government entity called Rewiring the Nation Corporation to improve the electric grid.
The Labor leader says the plan, which will attract $58 billion in private investment, will allow cheaper renewable sources to provide 82 percent of electricity by 2030 and then $378 a year to households will save.
However, Energy Secretary Angus Taylor said the upgrades will actually increase prices by increasing utility costs known as “pole and wire charges”.
Scott Morrison (due to Monday) says Labour’s energy policy would push up average electricity bills by $560 a year – but the opposition has branded the claim as another ‘fear campaign’.
Electricity pole and line charges account for about 46 percent of household bills and will increase as the value of the network increases, Mr Taylor said.
Government modeling released Monday claimed those fees would increase by an average of $560 by 2032, in what he called a “hammer blow to families.”
“That’s because Australia’s Energy Regulator independently sets the prices that homes pay for towers and cables, and does so largely based on the value of the network,” his office said in a statement.
“So when Labor says they want to add $78 billion in value to the network, they’re saying they’re happy to hit Australian families with a bigger bill.”
Experts have also raised suspicions about Labour’s claims.
Bruce Mountain, the director of the Victoria Energy Policy Centre, said in December: “I am skeptical of any claim that more transmission equals lower prices”.
And Frontier Economics’ Matt Harris said Labor’s modeling “appears to exaggerate retail electricity bill savings by assuming that a 26 percent drop in wholesale price leads to a 26 percent drop in retail prices… But wholesale costs are only about a third of an electricity bill, as does the savings.’
If elected, Anthony Albanese will spend $20 billion of taxpayer money to create a government entity called Rewiring the Nation Corporation to improve the electric grid
Energy Secretary Angus Taylor said upgrading the grid will raise prices by driving up utility costs known as “pole and wire charges”.
However, Mr. Taylor’s modeling was based on the typical annual bill for 2021-22 and did not take into account how more renewable energy is expected to depress prices.
His model only focused on transmission costs, not wholesale costs.
“These numbers were invented by the minister and put in the newspapers to mislead people about the enormous potential of renewable energy,” Mr Albanese said.
Labor energy spokesman Chris Bowen said it was just an attempt to scare voters into voting for the coalition.
“Today’s so-called ‘government modeling’ just shows that the Morrison government does not believe that renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, or that the global climate emergency represents Australia’s job opportunities,” he said.
When Mr Albanese announced his plan in December, he said the policy would work 604,000 jobs according to Labor-commissioned modeling by respected firm Reputex.
The guidelines will reduce emissions by 43 percent by 2030, a slightly less ambitious target than Bill Shorten’s 45 percent target, which Mr Albanese called a “mistake” last year.
Labor’s policy was supported by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Farmers’ Federation.
Labor has set a target of reducing emissions by 43 percent by 2030. Pictured: Mr. Albanese with a hydrogen car
The coalition’s goal is to cut emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels, although recent projections show the nation is on track for a 30 to 35 percent reduction.
Labor’s plan includes rolling out 85 solar banks and 400 community batteries across the country and investing in 10,000 “new energy apprentices” alongside a $10 million new energy skills scheme.
A future Labor government would also spend $3 billion on producing renewable energy and deploying low-emission technologies, and slashing taxes on electric cars to make them cheaper.
Mr Albanese said five out of every six new jobs created under the plan will be in regional Australia. About 64,000 are direct jobs, while 540,000 are indirect jobs created as a side effect of the policy.
The plan will not negatively impact traditional fossil fuel jobs and will not bring forward the closure of power plants, Mr Albanese said.
But it will increase the share of renewable energy in the national electricity market to 82 percent by 2030.
