Electricity

Analysis and Comment (38)

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Wind power now contributes 3.8% to the electricity market. Flickr/Bush Philosopher - Dave Clarke

Electricity prices fall: renewable energy deserves merit

By Dylan McConnell, University of Melbourne

Let’s be honest: the relationship between renewable energy and the electricity market is complex. So what does the latest report from Australian energy research firm RepuTex tell us? Well, for a start…
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Blackouts remind us what life was like before cheap, readily available electricity – but it’s time to think about the true price of our power. Candle in the dark image from www.shutterstock.com/Ronen

Save now, pay later: the hidden costs of lower electricity bills

By Ian McPhail, University of Southern Queensland

No lights, no power, no internet – and no easy solutions. Fumbling around in a middle of a blackout, hoping to find a torch or some spare batteries, I was struck by just how utterly dependent most of…
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It is not currently possible to find the energy source sold by any of the licensed electricity retailers in Australia. Flickr/dereckGavey

Do you know how clean your electricity is?

By Fiona Berry, University of Technology, Sydney

In Europe and America, electricity retailers let their customers know whether their electricity is coming from renewable energy or fossil fuels. In Australia, your retailer has no such obligation. The…
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Campaigns to switch off won’t work until they fit in with the ways we already behave. Andrew Huff

Hard habit to break: getting out of our energy wasting ways

By Jennifer Boldero, University of Melbourne and Geoffrey Binder, RMIT University

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions requires behavioural change. But how do we get individuals into this habit or, for that matter, any habit that reduces energy consumption? Two academic disciplines concern…
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New technology – among other things – means our estimates of electricity consumption are based on old ideas. Meg Lessard

Four years of falling electricity demand: can this continue?

By Alan Pears AM, RMIT University

In 2012, National Electricity Market electricity consumption continued its four-year decline. Everyone seems surprised that electricity demand continues to decline despite population and the economy growing…
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Electricity prices have been rising rapidly during the past decade. Sir Bennikins/Flickr

The PM’s electricity plan: it’s a Band-Aid not a cure

By Lynne Chester

A few days ago, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard foreshadowed a “plan to make sure that families pay $250 less per year for electricity” to be discussed at this Friday’s meeting of the Council of Australian…
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History suggests privatisation of the electricity industry is not such a bright idea. Image from www.shutterstock.com

Why we should pull the plug on privatising electricity

By Philip Soos, Deakin University

Surging power prices are having savage consequences for household discretionary incomes. Some would blame the government’s carbon tax, but the real culprit is price gouging. Judging from the pronouncements…
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Yes, Australia gets hot. But let’s investigate some other ways to cool it down. John Harvey

Air conditioning is peaking out, time to rethink cool comfort

By Yolande Strengers, RMIT University; Cecily Maller, RMIT University; Elizabeth Shove, Lancaster University, and Gordon Walker, Lancaster University

As the recent Energy White Paper and Senate Committee report confirm, Australia’s electricity prices are going up. The Productivity Commission states that they have risen by 50% in real terms over the…
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Australia could soon have millions of small electricity generators. absentmindedprof/Flickr

Energy White Paper underestimates solar

By Andrew Blakers

The 2012 Energy White Paper has much to commend it. In particular, the far greater acknowledgement of the need to shift to clean energy sources is a fundamental shift from previous White Papers. The emphasis…
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Deregulation of the energy retail market will address the current politicisation of energy prices. Bes Z/Flickr

Deregulation is crucial for lowering Australia’s electricity costs

By Adam McHugh, Murdoch University

The issue of deregulation of the energy retail market is an important one and I think the much-anticipated Energy White Paper, released by Energy Minister Martin Ferguson yesterday, does well to emphasise…
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The power we need twice a year is making us pay year-round. Andrew J Cosgriff

Explainer: What is peak power and how does it affect prices?

By Lynne Chester

This is the year of electricity prices. Everyone, from the Prime Minister to your favourite barista, is talking about the recent rapid escalation in electricity prices. These increases are a complex story…
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The National Electricity Market is in chronic failure mode. Sveter Sveter

Who will hold the balance of power on electricity?

By Alan Pears AM, RMIT University

The Senate Select Committee on Electricity Pricing tabled its report in Parliament on November 1. The inquiry found substantial evidence of failures in the rules and operation of the electricity market…
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The role of powerlines in bushfires is raising some pressing issues of climate change adaptation. Paul Hocksenar

Hot issue – bushfires, powerlines and climate change

By David Bowman, University of Tasmania

We have unwittingly hardwired a bushfire ignition source throughout our flammable landscapes – powerlines. Powerlines can fail under any conditions but the risk increases on days of high bushfire risk…
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Australian household energy use increased by more than 30% in the past two decades. ctandjung/Flickr

Electricity and the power of choice – for whom?

By Lynne Chester

Electricity prices are a hot topic. Prices have skyrocketed in recent years and politicians have finally realised that people are struggling to pay energy bills. Power of Choice, an Australian Energy…
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If closing brown coal power plants is part of the lowest cost mix of emissions reduction opportunities, then they will close without additional payment from the government. ccdoh1/Flickr

Carbon price is about low-cost emissions reduction, not closing power plants

By Tony Wood, Grattan Institute

This week the Australian Government announced that the “payment for closure” element of the Clean Energy Future package would not proceed. The decision has saved taxpayers a multi-billion dollar outlay…
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Electricity price rises can be traced to a number of factors. AAP Image

The real cause of electricity price rises in NSW

By Sharon Beder

As the political debate around rising power prices and the carbon tax heats up, there is a renewed debate around the privatisation of electricity distribution in New South Wales. With power prices sure…
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The Origin Smart portal provides customers with an estimate of future electricity bills. fudj

Is Origin Smart sleepwalking into a shocking personal data breach?

By Mark Gregory, RMIT University

Early last week, Origin Energy, Australia’s pre-eminent energy retailer, launched an online energy-use monitoring portal Origin Smart to much fanfare. All good – but what about the the privacy and security…
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Pretty much everyone agrees with Julia Gillard’s assessment of why power prices are up. But there are many views on how to bring them down. Tom Taker

We know why power prices are up, but what should we do?

By Hugh Outhred

Mr Abbott has learnt the hard way that the electricity industry is complex and that there is more to rising electricity bills than carbon pricing. Ms Gillard correctly identified rising costs of “poles…
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The government should have been addressing electricity arrangements for the last four years. Laurent LaSalle

High time the PM talked power prices, but don’t expect change

By Hugh Saddler

The Prime Minister gave a speech on August 7 entitled Electricity prices: the facts. She explained, correctly, that the costs of transmission and distribution (network costs, otherwise referred to as…
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Not winning them over… some plain speaking might have helped the Gillard government explain just how the carbon tax will impact on electricity prices. AAP

Plain speaking on the carbon tax and electricity prices

By Gujji Muthuswamy, Monash University

Confusion continues on how the carbon tax will hit the electricity bills of Australian households. While messages from electricity retailers may be on their way, Gujji Muthuswamy from Monash University…
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Switching off the beer fridge in the garage when you’re not using it could save you as much as you’ll spend on the carbon tax. Keenan Brown

The carbon tax needn’t cost you: easy ways to cut energy costs

By Alan Pears AM, RMIT University

If Treasury modelling is right, about half of household carbon cost will be included in energy bills, which are now about 3% of household expenditure. That means the carbon cost on energy adds about 0…
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Australian researchers are looking for ways to reduce the energy consumption of aluminium smelting. AAP

The trouble with aluminium

By Geoffrey Brooks, Swinburne University of Technology

The Australian aluminium industry is in the doldrums. A high dollar, low prices and Asian competition are threatening the industry, with older plants in New South Wales and Victoria under threat of closure…
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Electricity retailers will have some explaining to do once the carbon price begins. reallyboring/Flickr

Power prices will be the real test of the carbon tax

By Gujji Muthuswamy, Monash University

The first real test of whether the public will accept Australia’s carbon tax will be when electricity bills start landing in peoples’ mailboxes after 1 July 2012. The main issue is that while the carbon…
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India has ambitious plans to expand nuclear power. Truthout.org

How will Australian uranium affect India’s energy mix?

By Vlado Vivoda, Griffith University

Earlier this week, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard indicated she wants to reverse the ban on selling uranium to India. India’s government has welcomed the idea. Australia has close to 40% of…
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Microbial fuel cells: a bit of mud or sewage, a few bacteria and, bingo: electricity. engineering for change

Mud power: how bacteria can turn waste into electricity

By Ashley Franks, La Trobe University

When you read the word “bacteria” you probably think about illness, advertisements for “probiotic” food supplements, and maybe about brushing your teeth. Chances are, you probably don’t think about electricity…
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Future demand for electricity is hard to determine, but one thing’s for sure: prices will rise. freefotouk

Power prices rising, time for politicians to act

By Hugh Outhred

On August 31, the Australian Financial Review reported that “Power-hungry states face energy shock”. Another article on page ten read “Electricity price explosion predicted”. So, what is going on? Should…
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Fossil fuel power generation doesn’t look like a great investment. jon hanson/Flickr

Increasing electricity prices: watt’s the culprit?

By Roger Dargaville, University of Melbourne

New fossil-fuel power plants that nobody wants to pay for, electricity companies saying power prices will go through the roof: the economy of generating electricity is a complicated business. Last week…
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Is paying for power lines pushing up bills? AAP

What’s really pushing up the price of power?

By Hugh Outhred

Household electricity bills are rising and about half of a typical bill goes to paying network costs. Are we paying too much for network infrastructure? Electricity networks are undeniably important…
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Battery-operated cars can plug a quickly emerging gap in the market. Thomas Bräunl

Why electric cars are in pole position

By Thomas Bräunl, University of Western Australia

With global warming, carbon trading and record-high petrol prices in the news, not to mention the ever-looming spectre of peak oil, we need to find an environmentally sustainable and socially acceptable…

Research and News (2)

Research Briefs (7)

Does turning cow poo to power pay?

University of Vermont

Studies have estimated that converting manure from the 95 million animal units in the United States would produce renewable…

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