Baby steps on energy efficiency but....Giant leap back for environment

Thursday, 18 October 2007 02:17

“Since 1990, electricity generation emissions have grown by 52%, resulting in an extra 60 million tonnes of greenhouse pollution every year. Since 1999, energy consumption has spiralled upwards by 24%, much faster than population growth.  The National Electricity Market has done nothing to stop this,” said Jane Castle, TEC’s energy campaigner.

“The changes fall well short of what’s needed to secure a truly efficient and sustainable energy system. Without a universal mandate to aggressively pursue energy efficiency, the National Electricity Market will keep us all trapped in an energy guzzling dead-end. Baby steps are simply not enough.”

“Electricity networks must be obliged to reduce demand before they even think about building more expensive, polluting infrastructure.  On top of that, the Australian Energy Regulator must be required to provide incentives for innovative energy saving programs rather than making them optional and subject to the networks’ opinions.”
 
“While staring down the barrel of global warming, the states have also dumped their environmental objectives and policies.  This is a disaster for greenhouse emissions.  Without environmental and social objectives the National Electricity Market will continue to operate on narrow economic lines and favour inefficient, expensive and polluting power. Other countries such as Britain have well developed environmental and social objectives in their electricity market laws – why not Australia?” 

* The South Australian Parliament is the ‘national legislating body’ for the National Electricity Law, which governs the development of infrastructure and sale of electricity.  The Law is agreed by all state and federal governments, which have handed over electricity regulation to new national bodies.  The changes are currently being debated in the South Australian Parliament.