Tag Archives: electricity

Decarbonising the Economy – my latest podcast episode

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The latest episode of my Economics Explored podcast is on the topic of decarbonising the economy. My monologue is based on a talk I gave last Tuesday to the First Tuesday Club forum hosted by the Brisbane Dialogues group at … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Environment, Macroeconomy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

My takeaways from QAO Energy Report: Qld Gov’t should have offloaded energy assets years ago and NEM is dysfunctional

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Audit Office’s Energy 2020 Financial Report has been making news (e.g. in the Brisbane Times), although not for the same reasons I think it’s important. It demonstrates, to me at least, that Queenslanders are worse off because the … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Queensland Government, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Economics of second best in energy policy

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Gene Tunny

Australia’s energy policy is such a confusing mess that the Australian’s economics editor Judith Sloan actually supports the ACCC’s dubious call (in its Electricity Pricing Inquiry Final Report) for the Australian Government to act as a buyer of last resort … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Qld Government wants electricity GOC dividends to do double duty

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday’s media release from the Queensland Premier and Energy Minister on the $2 billion Affordable Energy Plan appears to have been prepared without Queensland Treasury input, as it is very loose in its discussion of the budget impact. The media … Continue reading →

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AGL Chief Economist to address ESA Qld on National Electricity Market

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Gene Tunny

As you are no doubt aware, one of the big economic challenges facing Australia at the moment is the high cost of energy. An important aspect of the debate around the cost of energy is the future of the National … Continue reading →

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ACCC Chairman critical of market share of Qld State-owned power generators

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Gene Tunny

Yesterday morning, in one of the best interviews of a public official I have ever heard, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims gave frank and informative replies to ABC Brisbane’s Steve Austin on the state of the electricity sector and the inquiry … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Qld Solar Bonus Scheme shows how bad government policy can cost taxpayers for a long time

Posted on June 1, 2017 by Gene Tunny

The Queensland Government yesterday directed its electricity network business Energy Queensland to remove the cost of the Solar Bonus Scheme from its charges until 2020, which will reduce Energy Queensland’s earnings and hence adversely impact the State Budget (see the … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Zombie electricity utilities – upcoming presentation by Professor Manuel Pinho to ESA Qld

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Gene Tunny

The latest issue of The Economist features an excellent article (Wind and solar power are disrupting electricity systems) describing the challenges of integrating renewable energy into electricity systems. It is a timely article, given there is an extensive debate in … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

QCA finds multiple policy failures associated with billions in industry assistance in Qld

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Gene Tunny

It appears that the QCA’s draft report on Industry Assistance in Queensland was released last Friday, a Friday before a long weekend, traditionally a good time to release reports that governments would rather be ignored and forgotten. But this report … Continue reading →

Posted in Industry policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Privatised electricity businesses would better achieve necessary efficiencies

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Gene Tunny

It’s been clear for some time that the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) would make large cuts to future allowable revenues for Energex and Ergon, and that this would potentially impact Queensland Government dividend income. The preliminary determinations from the AER … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget, Energy | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments