Energy policy future hots up
Labor states unite against Turnbull’s NEG deal
THE future of Malcolm Turnbull’s signature energy policy hangs in the balance after the Victorian Government led a revolt of Labor states and territories against signing up to the policy this week.
The Turnbull Government has bought some extra time to convince the holdout governments of Victoria, Queensland and the ACT to sign up to the National Energy Guarantee, but will need to convince its own partyroom first.
State energy ministers were being asked to pledge their support for the NEG at a meeting this Friday.
After a meeting of state Cabinet yesterday, the Andrews Government is demanding the Prime Minister demonstrate he can deliver the NEG through his partyroom, A MOVE to electric cars could potentially strain Victoria’s electricity network, with new research revealing the state’s energy consumption would surge under the new technology.
Infrastructure Victoria yesterday released a new report into the future of automated and zero emission vehicles ahead of a series of effectively delaying any decision until after a meeting of Coalition MPs next Tuesday.
Federal and state energy ministers will have a phone hook-up after the Coalition partyroom meeting next week when they will again be asked to sign up to the plan.
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said her gov- ernment continued to assess the impact of the NEG on the energy market.
“We are working with other Governments for greater certainty and we’ll have more to say on our position shortly,” she said.
“We again call upon the Prime Minister to demon- strate he can deliver the NEG through his own party room before asking others to sign up to it.”
Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg said Friday’s meeting was always about securing support for the design of the policy and states and territories would have a chance next Tuesday to have their final say. He said despite some “usual voices” there was strong support for “key components” of the guarantee.
The NEG is aimed at bringing emissions and power prices down by ensuring reliability in the national electricity grid.
The average household would save around $550 a year on their power bill over the 2020s, of which $150 would be due to the NEG, according to modelling by the Energy Security Board.