Renewables ‘not to blame’
Blaming the introduction of renewable energy sources for high electricity bills is a “cheap shot” not supported by facts, the Australian head of the world’s biggest green utility says.
BLAMING the introduction of renewable energy sources for sky-high electricity bills is a “cheap shot” not supported by facts, the Australian head of the world’s biggest green utility says.
Acciona Australia managing director Brett Wickham says the gold plating of transmission lines and fat profit margins collected by retailers are the key drivers of power prices that have galloped far ahead of living costs.
“Renewables are not the price pressure problem,” Mr Wickham said. “The wholesale price in Victoria is about 10¢ a kilowatt hour. I can built renewables – solar and wind – for less than 10¢ a kilowatt hour.
“Mums and dads are being charged 35¢ a kilowatt hour so there is an awful lot of money disappearing somewhere and I wouldn’t like to see renewables blamed for high power prices, because they are not (to blame).
“It’s often a bit of a cheap shot to blame renewables – it’s a very complex system.”
The competition watchdog is probing the nation’s electricity market in the wake of residential prices surging 63 per cent above inflation over the past decade. Its preliminary report, released September, found higher spending on poles and wires was the main reason electricity bills had soared.