It is good to know that the Australian Consumer’s Democracy (ACD) is keen to get power bills down, particularly for financially stressed families (advertisement, page 5, Monaro Post, 8 October). Perhaps they could fix their sights on Origin Energy which made $1.5 billion profit last year but is still intent on raising utility bills by nine or 10 per cent. Nevertheless, the ad implies the introduction of the net zero policy is responsible for the current unaffordable bills. It’s not. Rather, consumers are paying for the costs of keeping ageing coal-fired power stations open such as Eraring, which is 100 per cent owned by Origin Energy. Coal has been cheaper than renewables until recently but the whole situation is changing. Renewable power is now competitive with existing coal and certainly cheaper than any new coal-fired power, should it be proposed. The Grattan Institute has just issued a report that I commend to the ACD. It’s called Bills down, emissions down: A practical path to net-zero electricity which, as the name implies, shows you can have your cake and eat it too, that is, you can get your bills down and as well as emissions and even achieve net zero. The Grattan Institute says the savings (from an average of $5,800 to $3000) will come because ‘most households in 2050 will have solar panels on their roof, a battery in the shed, an electric car in the garage, and all-electric appliances in the home’. In other words, most households will have made the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. There needs to be some intervention by government to make it happen, however. For instance, governments need to maintain and extend programs to ensure that the benefits of electrification are available to all households, particularly those on low incomes and in rental and multi-unit properties. The recent subsidy for household batteries has been hugely successful. We need more initiatives like this. Jenny Goldie Climate Action Monaro president
