PM Julia Gillard Blames Electricity Bill Shock on The States

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard will launch an attack on the states today over soaring power prices, barely a month after her own price-inflating carbon tax began. 
 
And she will use the latest figures to back up her argument - which show household power bills have increased by a staggering 62.4 per cent in South Australia over the past four years, adding $1086 in expenses to the average bill before the carbon price even kicked in.

That equals the second highest jump along with Western Australia, but is less than the 69.2 per cent hike in New South Wales since 2008-09.

Ms Gillard will say the burden on households from her carbon price will add a comparatively small $115 to that pain this financial year.

In a bold square-up to state governments who she says have too often benefited from revenue increases from electricity prices, she will claim the states are doing very well out of the misery of households and declare it simply cannot continue.

"Power bills have become the new petrol prices: not just an essential of life that always seems to be going up, but a vital commodity, where what we consume each day, or pay every quarter, seems far beyond our control," she will say in the address to the Energy Policy Institute of Australia.

"Prices have gone up - have gone up far and fast."
Government figures show the conservative-run states of NSW, Queensland and WA, where network services remain state-owned, have experienced windfall gains in revenue including 60 per cent growth for NSW, 16 per cent for Queensland, and almost 200 per cent growth for WA since 2009-10.

"Following the recent round of price increases, revenue for enterprises wholly owned by State Governments is up 50 per cent over the previous five-year period," she will say.

"This was in a period when revenue for the rest of the market players grew less than 30 per cent  ... for too long, some state governments have been increasing their revenue at the expense of the family electricity bill - that has to stop.

Plugging in will cost up to 70 per cent more in NSW this winter. In Victoria it will cost just 10 per cent extra. Picture: Herald Sun

"Australia did not need nearly 50 per cent price increases for households over the last four years and Australians can't afford the same kinds of increases over the next four years.
"It's a huge cost to our economy and it's a threat to fairness in our society."

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Warning Issued Over Anti-Carbon Tax Posters

Labor is warning small businesses against displaying the Coalition's anti-carbon tax posters, saying they risk million-dollar fines if the information is found to be misleading.

The Coalition has sent the fliers to bakeries, butchers, dry cleaners and fruit shops just days before the carbon tax is due to take effect.

The tactic is a further sign that both sides of politics are preparing to ramp up their campaigning efforts surrounding the tax.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told a meeting of Coalition MPs that he and other senior party figures would be campaigning "across the country", warning people the tax would push up the cost of living and threaten jobs.

Labor is also preparing a coordinated campaign this weekend to reassure the community about the effects of the tax.

Special Minister of State Gary Gray plans to visit the South Australian city of Whyalla on Sunday - a community Mr Abbott said would be "wiped off the map" because of the carbon pricing scheme.

Earlier today, Mr Abbott visited an RSPCA compound in Canberra to point out that "thousands" of charities would be worse off under the tax despite Government reassurances.

The head of the RSPCA in the ACT, Michael Linke, estimates the cost of the carbon tax will be somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 per year for the local organisation.

"At this stage we're not expecting job losses here in Canberra," Mr Linke told reporters at Mr Abbott's media conference.
"There is absolutely no way that I'm going to compromise animal welfare, so we are going to have to shave costs in other areas."

The Government says more than $300 million is available to councils, community groups and charities to help offset the costs of the carbon tax.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard used Question Time to ridicule Mr Abbott's visit to the animal welfare charity.
"I can assure the Leader of the Opposition (that) on July 1, cats will still purr, dogs will still bark and the Australian economy will continue to get stronger," Ms Gillard told Parliament.

"Presumably tomorrow he will be out trying to scare Skippy the bush kangaroo, and the day after he'll be out trying to scare Puff the Magic Dragon, and so it will go on."

Posters

And Labor is also warning businesses to be "very, very careful" about being part of Mr Abbott's campaign by displaying posters in their shop fronts.

"Don't allow him to drag you into his cynical scare campaign because the consequences of that are very serious," Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury told Parliament.

"If you do mislead your customers, then you could face fines of up to $1.1 million."

But the Coalition has rejected suggestions their small business posters are misleading.

"The fliers do nothing more than explain the Government own modelling and policy," Opposition small business spokesman Bruce Billson said.

"This is just another example of the Gillard Government trying to intimidate small business to not pass on or talk about the impact of the carbon tax."

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has set up a hotline for members of the public to make complaints about misleading carbon tax claims.

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Origin to Develop Cleaner Electricity for City of Sydney

Origin Energy Limited today announced an agreement with the City of Sydney which will see it lead the development of low-carbon, cost efficient trigeneration precincts across central Sydney, contributing to a cleaner energy supply for Australia's largest city.

Under the terms of the Heads of Agreement, Origin's wholly owned subsidiary Cogent Energy, will invest $ 100 million over a 10 year period to build trigeneration precincts in four zones across central Sydney.

Trigeneration involves using natural gas-powered engines to generate on-site electricity. It is a highly efficient process, as the waste heat from the engine is captured and re-used to provide heating, or for conversion to chilled water for cooling through an absorption chiller. Using gas as the fuel source offers the potential for a significant reduction in carbon emissions.

Origin General Manager Retail Markets, Mr Jim Galvin said, 'Origin is committed to meeting customers' energy needs today, and investing in the energy solutions for tomorrow. This means finding and developing new energy solutions which can provide Australians with a cleaner, reliable and affordable supply of energy.

'Working in partnership with large organizations like the City of Sydney, Origin is actively installing smarter technology including trigeneration systems, which use energy more efficiently, reduce carbon emissions and also deliver economic benefits to customers.

'As a leader in the installation of trigeneration in Australia, Origin is already demonstrating these savings with customers. In 2011, Origin worked with Investa Property Group to develop Australia's first open commercial trigeneration precinct in Sydney. Origin is also building a groundbreaking trigeneration precinct in Melbourne,' Mr Galvin said.

Trigeneration is a compelling, alternative energy solution that helps lower carbon emissions and network demand, while increasing energy efficiency and power security and reducing costs for large energy users, for example commercial buildings.

Trigeneration solutions offers owners of commercial buildings the opportunity to attain high standards of energy efficiency. Commercial buildings account for approximately 10 per cent of Australia's greenhouse gas emissions, according to Climateworks' Low Carbon Growth Plan for Australia. The success of this initiative and the proliferation of similar initiatives in Australia's central business districts could help drive material reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Precincts and customers for the first stage of the trigeneration project are currently being negotiated, including City of Sydney's own sites. It is expected that the plants will be constructed from 2013, as customers are identified and secured. Origin will be responsible for the ongoing operation and maintenance of the plants.


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Power Firms Face $4bn Carbon Slug

ELECTRICITY generators have warned that they face a cashflow crunch of hundreds of millions of dollars to buy carbon tax permits as the latest greenhouse gas emissions figures suggest almost $4 billion of the $7.7bn to be raised in the first year of the policy will come from power companies. 
 
Data from the Climate Change Department yesterday shows the power generation sector accounted for about 170 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions in the 2010-11 financial year, which could mean a carbon tax bill of $3.9bn if repeated next year.

The Weekend Australian reported this month that InterGen - the operator of Queensland's black-coal power generator Millmerran - sought help from the federal government's Energy Security Council for loan support because the looming carbon tax had hit its $467 million refinancing.

Victoria's largest power plant, Loy Yang Power, has also had talks with the ESC as it has a $565m refinancing due in November.

The latest greenhouse emissions figures show the nation's top five carbon dioxide emitters in 2010-11 were all coal-fired power generators. But as the government assembled the carbon pricing package, emissions from the sector fell about six million tonnes over the previous 12 months.

The two NSW state-owned generators - Macquarie Generation and Delta Electricity - were the two biggest emitters in 2010-11, with 20.3 million tonnes and 19.8 million tonnes in CO2 emissions respectively.

If the same emissions levels were repeated next year, Macquarie would face a carbon tax bill of more than $466m and Delta would pay $455m, based on the government's starting carbon price of $23 a tonne from July.

The companies told The Australian yesterday they would try to recoup the cost through higher electricity prices, but because prices are set by bids in the national electricity market, they are uncertain how much they will be able to recover.

The government warns that the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting figures, released yesterday, may not be an accurate guide to next year's carbon tax liability. This is because the reporting is for holding companies, and some of their emissions may not be subject to the carbon tax.

But The Australian confirmed with several of the big power companies that their reported NGER figures broadly represent emissions they would be liable for under the carbon tax.

The chief executive of the Electricity Supply Association of Australia, Matthew Warren, said some companies might have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for permits in advance of when the electricity was generated and sold.

Mr Warren said the Investor Reference Group estimated that electricity generators would need to hold positions on $6bn worth of forward permits to maintain current levels of electricity contracts.

But a spokesman for Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the government had announced it would make loans available to generators for the forward purchasing of carbon permits. This was in addition to $5.5bn in assistance for the emissions-intensive generators.

The mid-year budget update had shown the carbon price would raise $7.7bn in 2012-13, Mr Combet's spokesman said.

"Electricity generation is one of the most pollution-intensive sectors of our economy," he said.
"It is essential Australia begins to transform this sector so our economy remains competitive as the world moves to tackle climate change by reducing carbon emissions."

The government will put more than $4bn into household assistance this year to offset higher prices caused by the carbon tax.
Mr Combet's spokesman said there was substantial assistance for industry through the Jobs and Competitiveness Program, and for households through tax cuts, higher family payments and pension increases.

But Mr Warren said: "Without deferred settlement arrangements, allowing energy companies to pay for permits when they sell the energy and produce the emissions, they will need new lines of credit to finance their upfront purchase of forward vintages."

The opposition yesterday attacked the government over Virgin Australia's decision to introduce a carbon tax surcharge.
But Mr Combet's spokesman said Virgin had made the announcement on July 11 last year.

Research and Markets: Australia Energy Report - Australia Has Announced That As Of July 2012, It Will Be Implementing a Carbon Tax

The implementation of the tax will start with an interim fixed price for a period of three years before switching to an emissions trading scheme.

Asia's primary energy production accounted for almost half of the global 4% increase with China leading the global production levels (18% of the total), despite the country's slight decrease (-8%) in 2009. China and India registered an increase in total energy consumption of more than 6%, reaching almost the same level as Japan (6.7%). Energy consumption per unit of GPD continued to grow in developing Asian countries, reaching up to 60% higher levels than Europe.

Enerdata's Australia energy market report is a reliable source for understanding the key issues and dynamics shaping the Australian energy industry. With timely, up-to-date energy industry data and demand forecasts, this report will help you identify and exploit challenges and opportunities in the Australian energy sector. The report details the sub-sectors of the energy industry (Crude Oil, refined oil products, Natural Gas, Coal, Electricity and Renewable) in Australia.

In this report you will find:

Overview of energy industry sub-segments: oil, gas, coal, power, renewable Evolution of the regulatory environment and institutions as regards energy and climate change policies Key companies active in the Australian energy industry, along the value chain of each sub-segment Up-to-date insight on market structures, regulatory developments, and asset developments Market dynamics and trends, detailed by energy and by sector Projects under development in the country, including power plants, refineries, LNG terminals, gas pipelines Analysis of the likely evolution of the market and key industry drivers

Companies Mentioned:
Petrotrin Trinmar BP Trinidad National Gas Company (NGC) Atlantic LNG Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC) PowerGen (Power Generation Company of Trinidad and Tobago) Trinity Power Ltd

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/22/3770251/research-and-markets-australia.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/02/22/3770251/research-and-markets-australia.html#storylink=cpy