Energy blueprint pushes timed power charges

Apr 08, 2015

The Federal Government wants Australians to fork out more for power in peak times, like hot days, and less when demand is lower.

Cost-reflective tariffs could also increase power bills for people with solar panels to make sure they’re paying their fair share of network upkeep.

Instead of being charged a flat rate for electricity, where infrastructure costs are equally shared, consumers would pay the cost of delivering the power at the time it’s used.

The proposal is outlined in the government’s energy future blueprint and would require households install advanced metering – or smart meters – to monitor how much energy they’re using.

It would be voluntary and aim to avoid power price rises like the 50 per cent hikes endured over the past few years as companies invested in new poles and wires to cope with peak supply.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane on Wednesday released the energy white paper, which focuses on increasing market competition, improving productivity and securing investment in the sector.

“Our guiding principle is that markets should be left to operate freely, without unnecessary government intervention,” Macfarlane says in the paper.

Much of the blueprint reflects already announced government policies, like asset recycling to encourage states to sell off electricity assets and better targeting of the vocational education and training system.

It presses for more coal seam gas projects to reduce costs of wholesale gas, highlighting that some states have unnecessary regulatory and planning barriers that prevent “much-needed” supply.

The government will also ask the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate competition in the eastern Australian gas market.

The paper touches on Australia’s “good potential” for a range of renewable energy sources and outlines a commitment to a sustainable clean energy sector.

But it also reaffirms a commitment to cutting the renewable energy target and plans to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

While the government doesn’t detail a promised national energy productivity plan, it does say a 40 per cent target by 2030 is achievable.

It also doesn’t rule out nuclear energy, with Canberra closely watching the outcome of South Australia’s royal commission into the possibility of a local industry.