REGULATOR FIDDLES WHILE CONSUMERS BURN
Saturday, 31 January 2009 00:43
Late yesterday, after a year of deliberation, the AEMC knocked back proposals which would have required electricity companies to help consumers reduce bills.
"While tens of thousands of consumers in Victoria and South Australia swelter through power blackouts, the AEMC has failed to ensure these events won’t recur," said Jane Castle, TEC’s Senior Campaigner, one of the authors of the Rule Change Package.
Ms Castle said the failure to encourage energy savings will hurt consumers and the environment.
“Regulators plan to approve a $17 billion spending spree in NSW alone by networks bent on expanding the grid. To pay for this, Energy Australia’s customers in Sydney and Newcastle are facing increases in network prices of over 70%.”
“Demand Management would reduce the risk of blackouts, creating a sustainable, supply aimed at the entire electricity grid, instead of simply meeting increasing demand,” said TEC’s Director, Jeff Angel.
TEC’s Rule Change Package presented a strategy to make power companies prioritise energy efficiency over building more polluting infrastructure.
“But the AEMC has rejected numerous proposals to help consumers save power, even as it agreed to a number of minor improvements,” said Ms Castle. “For example, the AEMC even rejected proposals requiring networks to report on energy saving measures that they have undertaken.
"The AEMC is hiding behind a maze of reviews, reports, rules and bureaucracy while power demand, prices, and greenhouse emissions spiral. As the Regulator has failed to protect consumers, it is now up to Governments to step in.”
“Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, and state energy ministers must terminate their insane attachment to coal-fired power which is the key driver of Australia’s greenhouse emissions,” said Mr Angel. “The logic is perverse and destructive.”
TEC is the first community group to attempt a Rule change to Australia’s energy market.
