Adam Morton reports in the Brisbane Times (8.3.17) on research conducted for the Australian Greens showing the rise in domestic power prices in the time since the abolition of the so-called ‘carbon tax’.
‘A growing crisis in the electricity market has led to wholesale power prices more than doubling in a year – and rising to at least twice what they were under the much-maligned carbon price.
‘An analysis by the University of Melbourne’s Climate and Energy College, produced for the Greens, found the average wholesale electricity price soared to $134 a megawatt hour in the summer just finished, compared with $65-$67 in the two summers the carbon price was in place.
‘It nearly tripled in 12 months in Queensland and NSW, and doubled in South Australia. Only Victoria escaped among eastern mainland states.
‘The dramatic increase has been largely blamed on soaring gas prices and investment uncertainty over what power plants to build as ageing coal generators shut down.’
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