Network costs and rising profit margins hurt consumers far more than the carbon tax
With question marks hovering over his approach to the renewable energy target (RET) review, and now announcing that climate change will not be discussed at the upcoming G20 summit for fear of “cluttering” the agenda, new research shows that the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about the carbon tax being the main pressure on energy prices is also misguided.
Lynette Molyneaux of the University of Queensland has concluded that privatisation of the energy markets have let consumers down by limiting transparency. States like Victoria where generating electricity is relatively cheap, and one of the smallest energy grids in the country, still sees consumers slugged with the highest average rate per kilowatt. It’s clear to see from the graph below that Victoria enjoys cheap energy generation, low network maintenance costs yet the electricity companies are taking the greatest percentage of profit when compared to QLD and NSW.
Of-course energy prices are high, the Prime Minister tells us continuously that it’s the carbon tax that is causing average families the most hurt. Well, this claim was put to the test by Molyneaux and (surprise, surprise) she found it didn’t hold water. The overall trend across all states showed that while the carbon tax did contribute a minor price increase it also drive down the wholesale cost of electricity to pre-2008 levels, and that by far the biggest contributor was network infrastructure spending.
Figures show that more than half of the cost of electricity currently goes toward network costs, taking up a greater percentage of the per kilowatt price (jumping over 50% around 2011) and doubling between 2007 and 2013.
Despite evidence that programs like the carbon tax and renewable energy schemes have worked they are still the scapegoat for rising energy costs, while the energy companies are making more money while supplying less electricity. It’s no wonder so many consumers all across Australia are reaching out to companies like Solar Sunwerx asking for assistance in controlling their energy costs.
