Graph of the Day: Electricity prices rises not driven by renewables

We said it last week, via the ANU. But it bears repeating: The Australian states with least amount of new renewable energy (and more coal) have seen higher electricity price increases than those with more new wind and solar.

And this chart (below) from the Clean Energy Council this week illustrates the point really well.

As we noted in our story last week, the argument that a rapid shift to renewable energy generation, such as has been seen in South Australia, drives up consumer electricity prices has been thrown about a lot, lately, by the federal Coalition and right wing media outlets. But that’s not what the data says.

The data, as reflected in the ANU report – which was commissioned by News Limited, but is available here – shows that average household electricity bills have increased less in renewables-rich South Australia over the past 10 years than they have in Australia’s eastern states, which are predominantly powered by coal and gas-fired generation.

Of course, for the full story, we recommend reading that report. But as the old saying goes, sometimes a picture tells a thousand words.