Australia faces a choice between two very different energy futures. One is Labor’s ‘renewables only’ plan. This relies almost exclusively on wind and solar technology and effectively puts all our eggs in one basket. The other is the Coalition’s plan for a balanced energy mix. This includes renewables, gas and zero-emissions nuclear energy replacing coal as it retires from the system. Today it has been revealed that Labor’s ‘renewables only’ plan will cost Australians at least $642 billion. This is five times more than they told the Australian people. This analysis of Labor’s plan for the National Electricity Market accounts for utility-scale generation, storage and transmission.
It was undertaken by Frontier Economics, who are renowned independent energy experts regularly engaged by governments, including Labor governments. ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS Hidden Costs Frontier Economics found that the Government’s plan conceals significant costs. These include transmission projects and other large projects they treat as “sunk costs”, even though they still need to be paid for. Carbon Price by Stealth Labor has quietly imposed a “Value of Emissions Reduction” charge, starting at $70 per tonne and rising to $420 by 2050. This shadow carbon price is used to force in their renewables only mix. The cost of this will be borne by Australians. Expensive Overbuild Labor’s unrealistic targets for EVs, green hydrogen, and renewables are leading to a costly overbuild of the electricity grid. Australians will end up footing the bill. Cost Blowouts Transmission project costs have already had huge cost increases. This will continue, which means the $642 billion cost is likely to be an underestimate. Coal Shutdown Dishonesty Labor says 90% of coal power will exit the grid by 2034. However, coal plant owners say 10.8 GW of the coal Labor says will be gone will still be operating. Now that the real cost of Labor’s plan has been revealed, the Coalition will finalise and release costings by the end of the year for an alternative plan with a balanced energy mix, including zero-emissions nuclear energy. This will give Australians a side-by-side comparison of the true costs and benefits of both approaches.
Kind regards,
Ted O'Brien
Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy
Authorised by A. Hirst, Liberal, Canberra.
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