Australian Electricity Prices: a Real Horror Story

In what appears to be a staggering case of government and corporate collusion, Australians are being gratuitously blindsided by the highest energy costs in the country’s history. But why? And how are they getting away with it?

It might be best to understand such a big issue with a simple story:

Once upon a time, a popular and trusted dam builder in a beautiful riverside town found that his bank balance was getting lower and lower.

His problem was that the town was now safe from floods and there was absolutely no need to build any more dams.

Fearing that he might have to find some other way to make a profit, he went to the town’s mayor and cried out with booming relish,

“Great floods are coming! The dam is going to break!”

The mayor, being a sensible man, questioned the dam builder:

“Really? And how do you know this?”

“Because,” said the dam builder, “I have hired a number of meteorologists who predict massive rains that will drown the town unless we do something now!“

Do you see where this is going?

The mayor, believing the dam builder and fearing the worst, approved a massive construction project that cost the town heavily, including allowing the dam builder to keep ten percent cut of all the money he spent … which was, of course, pure profit gained by his deceit. The more money the dam builder spent, the more profits he was guaranteed by the fearful mayor!

Anyone want to take a guess at what happens next?

That’s right, the rains DO NOT COME. There are showers, sprinkles, even the occasional torrential downpour, but the dam the town had before (built by the dam builder, mind you) was perfectly adequate for their needs. And now the town was stuck with a gargantuan bill and no recourse.

Seem like a morality tale from hundreds of years ago? A con-job so obvious that no one could possibly fall for it?

Unfortunately for Australians, we are living that tale.

Energy Network Companies, backed by data from their own in-house analysts, convinced the Australian government that the power grid was unable to sustain the incredible influx in demand in the coming years. The government responded by approving over 45 billion dollars in upgrades to the system which included tens of thousands of miles of useless poles and wires, and even 30 million dollar sub stations that were never even connected to the grid!

Why? Because the rains didn’t come.

Demand did not increase as the Network Companies warned it would, using “data” that they themselves had generated. In fact, demand went down. With Australians investing more and more in solar panels, the need for more “old energy” simply wasn’t and isn’t there.

The power-grid using public, much like the townspeople, was left with no recourse and a gargantuan bill for forty-five billion dollars plus ten percent interest over the top. In fact, fifty one percent of our electricity bills are now going to pay off the unnecessary network upgrades and the profit-gouging trickery of the companies that built them. Fifty one percent!

This story might not be a terribly happy one for the power-grid using public. But more and more Australians are stepping out of the pages of the Corporate Monoliths’ horror story and we writing their own energy stories, harnessing solar, complete with a far brighter ending.

By Finn Peacock : Founder – SolarQuotes.com.au