This week I introduced a Private Members’ Motion to ask the Albanese Government key and outstanding questions on Australia’s energy supply and prices.
My Motion is detailed below and my accompanying speech can be view by clicking on the picture.
MOTION:
That this House:
(1) notes that:
(a) the Government has no plan to ensure replacement energy generation is built on time to replace the 20 gigawatt of baseload energy slated to withdraw from the National Electricity Market (NEM) by 2035, causing energy to become more expensive and less reliable;
(b) despite promising Australians it would reduce household electricity costs by $275 the Government has created energy chaos and has delivered consecutive price hikes including further increases of up to 33 per cent due from 1 July 2023;
(c) the closure of Liddell Power Station marks the start of a turbulent new era in Australia’s energy market with 20 gigawatts of base load energy capacity (80 per cent of total baseload energy) to withdraw from the NEM by 2035;
(d) the Snowy 2.0 ‘mega battery’ was commissioned by the former Government to support an orderly transition of the NEM, which is now under threat due to the current Government;
(e) the further delays to Snowy 2.0 will place further pressure on Australia’s electricity market in coming years with 7.5 gigawats of baseload energy exiting the grid, before the 2 gigawatt Snowy 2.0 project is fully operational, from power stations including Liddell, Eraring, Yalloum and Vale Point B;
(f) the former Government actioned a comprehensive plan to enable a smooth powering down of the 2 gigawatt Liddell Power Station by extending its life, overseeing record investment in renewables and commissioning the 660 megawatt Kurri Kurri gas plant;
(g) since the Government came to office, there have been reports of massive blow-outs in both cost and the delivery timeframe for both the Snowy 2.0 and Kurri Kurri projects;
(h) the Government’s uncommercial green hydrogen plan for Kurri Kurri has resulted in the project being delayed by at least a full year and has more than doubled the project’s total cost; and
(i) the former Government worked with energy providers like AGL to extend the life of critical power stations to allow time for replacements to be built; and
(2) calls on the Government to:
(a) immediately reinstate a technology agnostic capacity mechanism;
(b) urgently work with Origin Energy to extend the life of the Eraring power station until replacement dispatchable capacity comes online;
(c) scrap its uncommercial green hydrogen plan for Kurri Kurri so it can start as a gas plant as soon as possible; and
(d) ensure Snowy 2.0 is operational as soon as possible.
