The Australia Institute made a submission on the Treasury Laws Amendment (Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct) Bill 2018. Australia’s problems with electricity pricing are structural and the approach proposed in the bill to break up electricity companies will likely exacerbate the problem rather than fix it.

The first National Energy Emissions Audit of 2019 shows renewable energy displacing black coal power generation for the first time, as part of the largest ever year-on-year growth in renewables generation the NEM has seen. The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program has released the latest National Energy Emissions Audit covering emissions in the electricity

The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program has released the December National Energy Emissions Audit, authored by renowned energy expert Dr Hugh Saddler, covering emissions in the electricity sector over the previous month of November.  Key findings: Electricity sector emissions are trending downwards, however, these reductions have been swamped by rises in emissions in transport

Renewable generation in the National Energy Market (NEM) has reached a new record high, with all new energy generation over the last two months due to eight new solar farms coming online in the NEM, latest findings from the National Energy Emissions Audit show. The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program has released the November

Australia has one of the highest per capita emissions of greenhouse gases in the world.If Australia is to stay within its share of the remaining, diminishing, global carbonbudget for stabilising Earth’s temperature increase at 2°C or less, a necessary (but notsufficient) requirement is to transition its electricity system rapidly to 100%renewables by 2030 or soon

The Australia Institute has considerable concerns about the proposed program tounderwrite new generation investments. In particular, the proposal seems to confusetwo separate issues. The first is that the reliability standard in the NEM is met. This ishighlighted in the consultation paper by reference to AEMO’s latest ElectricityStatement of Opportunities that the NEM will need an

The Australia Institute apologises for the delay in publishing the October National Energy Emissions Audit, which was due to internal considerations. The November National Energy Emissions Audit is currently being prepared and will be released on time. The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program has released the latest National Energy Emissions Audit for the electricity

This submission responds to the call for submissions on the draft rate of return guidelines as set out by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER). The consumer groups have complained that the regulated entities are very profitable and attribute that to flawed methodology on the part of the regulator. We want to support that and follow

Welcome to the September 2018 issue of the NEEA Electricity Update, with data updated to the end of August 2018. Electricity Update is the companion publication to the quarterly National Energy Emissions Audit Report, the next issue which is being published alongside the Electricity Update. The Electricity Update presents data on electricity demand, electricity supply, and

Key points Australia’s energy emissions were almost unchanged between March and June 2018 During the second quarter of 2018, continuing gradual reductions in electricity generation emissions were almost precisely offset by continuing growth in emissions from use of petroleum fuels. Meeting the Paris emissions target will need much larger than pro rata reductions in electricity

Welcome to the September 2018 issue of the NEEA Electricity Update, with data updated to the end of August 2018. The Electricity Update is the companion publication to the quarterly National Energy Emissions Audit Report, the next issue which is being published alongside the Electricity Update. The Electricity Update presents data on electricity demand, electricity

Welcome to the August 2018 issue of the National Energy Emissions Audit Electricity Update, with data updated to the end of July 2018.  This Electricity Update is the companion publication to the quarterly National Energy Emissions Audit Report, the next issue which will be in September 2018.  The Electricity Update presents data on electricity demand, electricity

[Full research from our National Energy Emissions Audit here] AEMO’s modelling results show that, with efficient planning of and investment in the most efficient mix of network services, it will be quite possible to ensure that the electricity supply system of the NEM remains secure and reliable, with much larger emission reductions, and much higher

Electric vehicles are a very small segment of the Australian automobile market currently, with sales of just over 2000 vehicles last year, in a market with over 1 million annual sales. However technological and policy progress internationally is likely to see the global market grow significantly, with some predicting annual sales of 30 million electric

SUPPORTING TECHNICAL PAPER: National Energy and Emissions Audit, July 2018 CALCULATING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ARISING FROM ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN THE NATIONAL ELECTRICITY MARKET. Emissions are calculated on an annual basis as the sum of emissions arising from each thermal power station supplying the National Electricity Market (NEM). This is the procedure used by the Australian Electricity

The quarterly edition of the National Energy Emissions Audit, released today by The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program, shows Australian transport emissions are ramping up thanks to a significant increase in diesel usage. Key Findings: Transport sector emissions are rising due to a significant increase in diesel usage and this almost cancels out all

Media Release                                             1 June 2018 Grid-scale solar tripled since March The May edition of the National Energy and Emissions Audit, released today by The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program shows that the National Electricity Market (NEM) is transitioning to renewable energy despite political and policy uncertainty. Key findings included: The capacity

Australian Energy Market Commission is conducting a Reliability Frameworks Review, which is looking at how to improve reliability in the National Electricity Market. In our submission The Australia Institute argues that the best market reform under consideration by the Commission is wholesale demand response. Demand response allows energy consumers to reduce or delay their consumption

Under a draft rule written by the Australian Energy Market Commission energy retailers could use movie tickets and other tricks to cheat consumers. The draft rule waters down a stronger proposal by the federal government.

The Australia Institute made a Submission to Review of the rate of return guidelines. As an appendix we have attached a paper, The equity premium in Australia, that should be read in conjunction with this submission. This paper was prepared for the 2017 Conference of the Society of Heterodox Economists at the University of New

State and Territory initiatives beat NEG target by 5 years The Australia Institute’s new Climate and Energy Program has released the Electricity Update of the National Energy Emissions Audit (The Audit*) for March 2018, authored by renowned energy expert Dr Hugh Saddler. Electricity demand and emissions in the National Energy Market continue to decline to

The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program released the March 2018 quarter National Energy Emissions Audit, by renowned energy expert Hugh Saddler. Key points +  Australia’s energy emissions were almost unchanged over the three months from September to December 2017  Australia’s annual energy combustion emissions have now been hovering at or around their highest ever

The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy program has released the latest electricity update of its National Energy Emissions Audit. The February 2018 electricity update reviews the performance of the South Australian ‘big battery’. Written by respected energy analyst Hugh Saddler, the Audit shows that Australia’s energy system is in transition, regardless of the political turmoil

The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy program has released the latest electricity update of its National Energy Emissions Audit. Written by respected energy analyst Hugh Saddler, the Audit shows that Australia’s energy system is in transition, regardless of the political turmoil the change is creating.

The Australia Institute’s Climate & Energy Program has released the National Energy Emissions Audit for December 2017 which shows that Australia’s energy emissions hit another record peak in the year to July 2017, before slight reductions to September. The Audit, compiled by renowned energy specialist Dr Hugh Saddler, provides a comprehensive, up-to-date indication of key greenhouse gas

The cost to households of the electricity they use has been a sensitive political issue in Australia for at least the past six or seven years, and seems certain to remain so. That was certainly the case in 2010-11 when the then Labor government was negotiating passage of its package of carbon pricing/emissions trading legislation,