Tag Archives: electricity

National Electricity Market malfunction of June 2022: my latest podcast episode

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Gene Tunny

One of the biggest challenges facing advanced economies is maintaining reliable and reasonably priced electricity as we decarbonise to combat climate change. This year we’ve seen some ominous signs that this may not go well. The war in Ukraine has … Continue reading →

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Consumer confidence indicators are very concerning

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Gene Tunny

As always it’s important not to read too much into one piece of data, and generally I’ve been optimistic about the Australian economy and even more so about the Queensland economy over 2022-23, but the latest consumer confidence figures are … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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