Power Down, Australia Institute Paper 14, analysed the changes in electricity demand in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) between 2006 and 2013. Since 2010, electricity demand has been characterised by an entirely unprecedented steady fall in the total quantity of electricity consumed each year. Power Down concluded that a number of different factors had contributed

The Renewable Energy Target (RET) has been subjected to a lot of criticism in recent years. Most of it has centred on the idea that the RET increases electricity prices. Numerous studies including the government’s recent review of the RET have shown that over time it is lowering electricity prices. But the criticism has also

South Australia leads the country in several aspects of renewable energy development. The state has the highest installed capacity of wind generation – more than 1,200 megawatts. In 2013-14, 37 per cent of electricity generated in the state came from wind and rooftop solar, more than any other state in the country. South Australia’s wind

Until 2010 – for well over a century, through two world wars and the Great Depression – the quantity of electricity used in Australia each year was greater than the year before. In the three years since 2010, the quantity used each year has been less than the year before, and there is no evidence

Electricity prices are a major contributor to cost of living pressures and a major cause of concern for Australian consumers. While the carbon tax has recently been depicted as the main culprit in electricity price increases, electricity prices have been increasing rapidly for the past two decades. The cost of electricity increased by 170 per

The introduction of a carbon price in Australia in July 2012 will raise more than $10 billion per year, help influence industrial and household decision making and, inevitably, increase the costs and reduce the profits of some businesses. Such increases in cost and the subsequent change in behaviour are, of course, the objective of introducing

Contrary to popular belief, the policies that are most effective in driving down greenhouse gas emissions actually raise revenue rather than cost the budget money. The Gillard Government has recently scrapped, or wound back, a range of policies designed to help reduce greenhouse gasses in order to ensure the budget returns quickly to surplus. These

This paper examines the effectiveness of the Green Power scheme in encouraging the use of low-emission forms of electricity.

A submission to Senate Environment References Committee Inquiry into Australia’s Response to Global Warming

This report evaluates the impact of the privatisation of ACTEW on the financial position of the ACT public sector. In so doing, it examines the structure of ACTEW and the impact of the competitive electricity market on ACTEW’s profitability. It also assesses the options for dealing with the government’s unfunded superannuation liability. It concludes that

This report evaluates the likely effects on atmospheric emissions of the proposed changes in indirect taxes put forward in the Coalition’s GST Tax Package. While there is no mention of the environment in the Tax Package, changes in prices of energy intensive activities induced by the Tax Package may affect energy consumption and thus atmospheric

Against the backdrop of widespread reform in Australia’s electricity sector, this paper proposed an emissions trading scheme for NSW – in 1995. It investigates three broad approaches: a regulatory system, a carbon tax and a tradeable permit scheme, concluding that the latter was best placed to meet targets for emissions reductions at the lowest economic