Campbell Newman’s war on green energy

It looks like the clean energy industry is going to have to go back to basics when dealing with the new conservative government in Queensland – just as it has had to do in Victoria, with that state’s Coalition government. Tomorrow, when the NSW Coalition government releases its renewable energy plan, it will learn if it will have to do the same there.

In Queensland, however, the industry is right back at first base. Not that it ever really left it: it is the one state that has hardly any large-scale renewable generation, apart from a series of biomass plants from sugar cane plantations and a single 12MW wind farm.

Premier Campbell Newman signalled his approach to renewables early in his term when he decided he didn’t want to put any state money into the Solar Dawn consortium, or any other renewable energy project  for that matter, and announced he would disband the state’s climate change and renewables program. His approach was that the if federal government had a carbon tax and a renewable energy target, then Canberra should pay for it. It wasn’t the state’s business.

That might sound fine on the stump, or in a sound bite on radio talkback, but it’s actually self-defeating. The law states that each electricity retailer must provide a certain amount of renewable energy to its customers, paid for by renewable energy certificates, and that includes Queensland utilities.

If they don’t build renewable energy in their own state, then that money will simply be spent on projects being built by the southerners – be it in NSW, Victoria or South Australia. This is one aspect that hopefully the NSW paper has seized upon, and why it was happy to put in funds to ensure a major solar project, the investment and the jobs, stayed in its state.

But Newman’s antipathy to green energy runs deep. It’s sung from that same old song-book – it’s expensive, it’s intermittent, and it doesn’t cut emissions.

This week, the government upped its rhetoric against renewables – issuing a press release from energy minister Mark McArdle’s office that said Queenslanders were facing an “enormous” cost from the renewable energy target – one that would reach $408 a year for each household by 2020.

How did it get to that figure?

Well, it starts with the Queensland Competition Authority, which estimates the cost of the large-scale renewable target on Queensland households in 2012/13 to be around $30 a year, or 60c a week. Then it adds the cost of the small-scale target – essentially the multipliers that accompanied rooftop solar – which grew to $60 a year, or $1.20 a week, because of the uncontrolled blowout in that scheme. And then it added in another $15 a year to account for losses in transmission of green energy, the retailers’ profit margin on these schemes and “headroom” – which allows retailers to either make even more profits or have a margin to “compete” with.

McArdle’s office gets to $408 per year per households by simply multiplying that estimate by four. But that’s wrong on a couple of fronts. The multiplier is done on the basis that the renewable energy target stands only at 5 per cent – but it is actually already at more than 10 per cent. And while the $102 figure is made up mostly of the cost of the national SRES scheme (the multiplier for rooftop solar), it’s 2020 forecast  does not take into account that the SRES scheme has effectively been wound down – the multiplier has been dropped from 5 to 2, and with no multiplier next year – and its costs will drop considerably.

The Clean Energy Council noted this week that – apart from supporting the state’s sugar mills, which use cane waste to produce renewable energy and generate an extra source of revenue – the cost of the renewable energy target has peaked and will likely fall to under $60 a year per household in 2020, not the $408 cited by McArdle’s team

But apart from getting the costs wrong, what is even more concerning for the industry is the observations made by McArdle’s office about the (hidden) costs of renewable energy. It states that the deployment of solar PV is adding “significant” additions to network costs.

When RenewEconomy inquired further, it was told that:

– The investment in infrastructure required to underpin the domestic solar PV program would add billions of dollars to the cost of RET schemes.

– There is no such thing as avoided infrastructure costs involved in green schemes, because they have required government subsidies that hide the real costs of such projects.

– And was cited an article published in The Australian last week, quoting a noted anti-wind activist who claimed that wind energy had achieved virtually no emissions reductions in Australia. “There are no benefits from wind,” the office told us.

The state government claims that “most” green energy sources cost “three to ten” times that of “traditional” energy sources. Apart from the fact that wholesale prices make up only around a third of the consumer bill, this was an estimate based on 2009 data – just like the draft energy white paper. Brisbane should get itself an update from the Bureau of Resource Economics, and on what the future holds in terms of costs, and how wind and solar will soon be cheaper than coal and gas – and then cross reference that with those of the IEA.

McArdle has also asked the QCA to investigate the cost of building infrastructure to support green schemes. He says the QCA is expected to report back in the next few weeks.  Hopefully, the QCA will look at the avoided costs on network infrastructure that rooftop solar can also provide, but McArdle’s office is not yet aware exists. The CEC says all that solar power that has been installed in the state – more than 500MW – is actually helping to push back major investment in big power stations, and is saving people money.

Whatever the cost of “green” infrastructure is, it is likely to be far less than the $7,000 it is estimated that is added to the cost of transmission infrastructure for every $1,500 air conditioner installed in houses. And the ones sharing in that cost burden are the ones that can least afford it.

Comments

17 responses to “Campbell Newman’s war on green energy”

  1. Damien Avatar
    Damien

    $7,000 for every $1,500 air conditioner installed in houses not every 1,500 air conditioners!

    1. Giles Parkinson Avatar
      Giles Parkinson

      Fixed. Someone stole a $ sign!

  2. Roy Ramage Avatar
    Roy Ramage

    Queenslanders have always claimed to be different. Newman proves it.

    1. Howard Patrick Avatar
      Howard Patrick

      Newman and McArdle are simply ignorant of facts and surrounded by political advisers and compliant public servants dancing to their masters ignorance.

      Perhaps in a year or two they may have some appreciation of the impact of photovoltaics upon peak demand, an impact the fossil fuel electricity generators are well aware of and are trying to limit; for what they see as their commercial gain.

  3. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine

    In your last paragraph I think you mean: $7,000 it is estimated that is added to the cost of transmission infrastructure for every $1,500 spent on an air conditioner installed in a house.

  4. colin Avatar
    colin

    As annoying as it is to see Governments printing total untruths, I think we can take the extent of the exaggerations as evidence that renewables have won. These “hidden costs” are just trying to negate the fact that all the costs are moving down for renewables and up for traditional methods. The $1.00 per installed watt for solar is an important goal for solar which will be achieved shortly.

  5. Gavan Avatar
    Gavan

    green energy fades the curtains quicker, puts cows off milking, and turns households that use green power into homosexual left wing communist. It’s a scientific fact every dumb arse redneck QLDer knows that, including the premier Can Douche.

  6. Richard Mackie Avatar
    Richard Mackie

    Amazing that the Qld gvt is basing energy policy on articles in the Australian! – why don’t they say read reports from the electricity market operator about how wind is performing in South Australia? – that would make too much sense perhaps!

    1. Chris Fraser Avatar
      Chris Fraser

      Ha ha. If only they weren’t semi illiterate !

  7. Alvin Avatar
    Alvin

    I’m still waiting to see a copy of that wind power report by the activist. As far as I can tell it was given to climate sceptic websites, The Australian and no one else.
    I can’t find it online.
    It would be nice to let someone in the energy industry have a look at it and make an informed evaluation rather than just having Graham Lloyd write an opinion piece for The Australian that goes nowhere near exploring the issue in a balanced way. Oh dear, I said The Australian and balanced in the same sentence, what was I thinking?

    1. Giles Parkinson Avatar
      Giles Parkinson

      I should say that The Australian did publish my rebuttal of that piece in my Greenchip column yesterday – not with the same prominence though!

  8. Roger Avatar
    Roger

    This is why they are called the COALalition. Probably had Co$tello fiddling the books again for them. Wonder how much they get in ” Donations” from the dirty power mobs ?

  9. Ken Fabian Avatar
    Ken Fabian

    “…expensive, it’s intermittent, and it doesn’t cut emissions…” and, most important of all is a willful disbelief that there is a climate and emissions problem that needs to be addressed.

    Climate science denial is a dangerously irrational response to the climate problem; compared to the limitations of LNP thinkers to deal rationally with it the limitations of renewables barely rate as a stumbling block on the way to a low emissions economy.

  10. DM Avatar
    DM

    These people are so dangerous, it’s beyond belief.

    In every department there are now people in charge that don’t care about the truth or scientific evidence. Comunists at least tell you honestly what you can expect, but I’m really not sure what this crowd now in charge is up to! Less government to interfere with the goal of more money for a few, at the cost of the environment and the next generation perhaps?

    That would perfectly fit with an article about why they do reject science
    https://theconversation.edu.au/why-do-people-reject-science-heres-why-4050

  11. Concerned Avatar
    Concerned

    What makes the Australian any more innacurate than the Fairfax Press and the ABC?

  12. Frenzal Avatar
    Frenzal

    It makes no sense to me.
    I have gone from on the believing climate change to not so sure.
    I believe in cycles, I also believe we can’t keep using non renewable energy.
    No government wants to be the one that has to pay to make these huge changes.
    No political party does that’s for sure.

    Why do certain party’s HAVE to live by this I am right, you are wrong, even when you’re right mentality. It’s petty, self-centered and disgusting.
    Killing the solar farm was wrong, to me it seemed to be done out of spite & self service.
    As are most of this Premiers decisions.

  13. Alastair Leith Avatar
    Alastair Leith

    As a Republican politican who couldn’t even mention his once only running marathon time without shaving 2 hours off it (falsely placing him in elite marathon company) recently declared “We’re not going to be held to ransom by fact-checkers”.

    Guess that is pretty much the attitude of many conservative politicians these days. Or as the Shirley Maclaine song goes: Truth is Outta Style. come to think, that’s forever been the attitude of conservative politicians north of Twin Cities.

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