A $60 billion black hole has torn through the Albanese Government’s 2030 renewable energy plan exposing a Labor lie and leaving everyday Australians to pay the bill.
A leading energy economist has revealed that more than $60 billion of mega energy projects, which Labor is seeking to build by 2030, are unaccounted for in Labor’s logic despite its significant impact on the energy prices paid by households.
The concerns arise through the GenCost study which evaluates the levelised cost of electricity for different energy generating technologies and provides the central justification for Labor’s radical energy experiment.
Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O’Brien said Labor’s Climate Change and Energy Minister had deliberately misrepresented the study to blind Australians of the true cost of Labor’s plan.
“Chris Bowen has buried a $60 billion black hole in Labor’s radical energy experiment, and it will be everyday Australian households and businesses that pay the price,” Mr O’Brien said.
“It’s high time that Labor came clean with the Australian people and explained the true cost of its radical energy experiment.”
“Australians are paying some of the highest energy bills in the world despite false promises from Labor that it would cut household power bills by $275.”
The whopping $60 billion price tag was calculated by experienced economist, David Carland in a formal submission to the CSIRO and includes projects such as Snowy 2.0, Marinus Link, VNI West and the Battery of the Nation.
The total figure is likely to be far larger with many more costs associated with household energy storage and distribution costs unknown.
“How deep does this black hole go?” Mr O’Brien asks Labor’s Climate Change and Energy Minister.
“Labor’s energy pathway does not account for one cent of the enormous network integration costs and there are billions more to be uncovered.”
“The enormous network cost of connecting Australian homes with solar, wind or gas generators do not simply vanish because Labor wants it too. These costs are paid for by every single business and household in Australia through higher energy bills.”
In the open letter to the editor published in the Australian on 28 July, CSIROs Chief Economist Paul Graham stated the GenCost “report does not provide the cumulative cost of all investments up to 2030” and that “all existing generation, storage and transmission capacity up to 2030 is treated as sunk costs.”
The Coalition’s energy spokesperson thanked CSIRO’s Chief Economist for clarifying the details of the GenCost report and blasted Chris Bowen for lying to Australians about the true cost of its transition.
“Labor continues to tell Australians that a balance of technologies isn’t needed, claiming renewables alone will deliver the cheapest form of energy but, it has not accounted for at least $60 billion of energy infrastructure to be built out through to 2030.”
“We need to replace Labor’s dangerous ideology with a balanced ‘All-of the Above’ approach that allows for a mix of different technologies, including renewables.”
“What really matters, and what Labor deliberately ignores, is the total system costs of energy because that’s what hits people’s power bills.”