Island in the energy price storm: renewables help ACT cut power costs
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All thanks to Labor and Green politicians elected by the good people of the ACT all those years ago.
ACT is the only jurisdiction bucking the trend of soaring power bills now plaguing the rest of Australia
Williamsdale solar farm in the ACT. The territory has benefited from long-term contracts with suppliers of renewable energy. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Peter Hannam Mon 6 Jun 2022 18.07 AEST Last modified on Mon 6 Jun 2022 18.30 AEST
The ACT will cut electricity prices this year, bucking a trend of soaring power bills for the rest of Australia, as the territory benefits from long-term contracts that locked in low-cost renewable energy.
The reduction in the regulated tariff will shave $23 off the annual power bill for average households using 6500 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, and $88 for average non-residential users.
“ACT is the only jurisdiction in the national electricity market where regulated tariffs will decline in 2022-23,” senior commissioner, Joe Dimasi, said in a statement. Standing offers are now cheaper than those offered in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, he said.
“The price decrease is driven by a decline in the ACT government scheme costs this year, which more than offset the increase in wholesale electricity costs,” Dimasi said.
Wholesale prices in the national electricity market more than doubled in the March quarter from a year earlier, and have risen more since. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent global energy costs higher while regular outages by Australia’s ageing coal-fired power stations have lately added to the local price spike.
Long-term contracts devised by the ACT government to enable it to reach 100% renewable energy have served to shield its energy users from the higher prices faced by other regions.
The ACT’s deputy chief minister and energy minister, Shane Rattenbury, said average household bills for this coming financial year would be about $800 lower than those in neighbouring NSW.
“It’s underlined how fossil fuels are subject to the vagaries of geopolitics, that are completely out of our control,” Rattenbury said. “Locally produced renewable energy is entirely within our control.”
The territory’s wholesale price had averaged about $90 a megawatt-hour, well below the $200-$300MW/h other states would have been paying, he said.
Simon Corbell, the architect of the ACT’s scheme when he served as the territory’s climate and energy minister, said “some form of contracting is beneficial to consumers, beneficial for renewable energy development and beneficial for emissions reductions.
“ACT energy users will be protected during this period of very high prices because of the fixed prices they pay for their renewable energy,” said Corbell, who now heads the Clean Energy .. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/energy-australia .. Investor Group.
“They will be in a better position compared to consumers around the country, no doubt, and there’s the complete offset of the emissions profile of the electricity sector, a very important outcome,” he said.
The ACT reached 100% renewables in 2020.
The method of auctions in the ACT that fixed a price for renewable energy was a lifeline for the renewables industry in Australia after the arrival of the Abbott Coalition government in 2013 chilled investor confidence in the sector.
Other states, including Victoria and NSW, have since taken up the approach to encourage more clean energy supplies.
ACT reaps dividend from 100 pct renewables as energy bills fall despite market chaos
Michael Mzengarb 6 June 2022
Electricity users in the Australian Capital Territory will see average electricity costs fall by at least 1.25 per cent come 1 July, as the capital territory’s extensive contracts for 100 per cent renewable electricity shield its consumers from the chaos rippling through Australia’s energy markets.
On Monday, the ACT’s Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission – which regulates electricity tariffs in the ACT – announced regulated tariffs provided by government-owned retailer ActewAGL would fall in the next financial year.
The ACT's Sustainable Energy Policy focuses on clean energy. The ACT met its 100% renewable electricity (PDF 1.0 MB) target in 2020. Renewable energy development also positions the Territory at the forefront of the 21st Century sustainable knowledge economy. You can find out more about our renewable energy program in this short video (Video transcript - Actsmart leading the world in action on climate change). https://www.environment.act.gov.au/energy/cleaner-energy
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