AGL tips high power prices as split looms

THE new boss of AGL Energy’s green retailer warns wholesale power prices will stay high for years as the power grid rolls through a bumpy transition.

Wholesale electricity prices have surged in the two months since AGL rejected an $8bn buyout bid from a consortium led by the tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.

AGL Australia’s chief executive-elect Christine Corbett said she expects several years of higher prices amid higher coal and gas supplies and a rocky path to a renewables-led market.

“If you look at where wholesale curves are at the moment, and you look at 2024, it’s actually showing increases in wholesale prices, not decreases,” she said.

The power giant plans to split into two, with the retailfocused AGL Australia to be headed by Ms Corbett, and a coal-dominated generator called Accel Energy with Graeme Hunt as the boss.

AGL shares fell 1.97 per cent tot $8.48 on Friday but are still higher than the takeover bids of $7.50 and $8.25 a share it rejected from the consortium.