New figures show 23% jump compared to last year’s energy prices
Australia's electricity prices have risen, with demand for power across the south-east states hitting record levels during a cold snap. Political reporter Oliver Gordon has the details from parliament house.
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00:00So there's a couple of reports out this morning, one from AEMO and one from the Australian
00:07Energy Regulator.
00:09What they really do is show us how weather interacts with our national energy systems
00:15and our national energy grid.
00:17It basically shows that demand for electricity in the last quarter, so that's May, April
00:23and June, has been sky high, and that's largely due to a cold snap.
00:29I don't know if you've been leaving your electric heater on for longer or boiling the kettle
00:35more.
00:36This cold snap has also been impacting the types of electricity that are being produced.
00:42So we've seen less wind and less hydropower as a result of this cold weather, and that's
00:49increased the demand for coal and gas.
00:52And that's why we've seen these electricity prices going up.
00:56The electricity spot price up 23% from this time last year.
01:02We've seen a statement from the Climate Change and Energy Minister, Chris Bowen.
01:06He acknowledges that this is a serious issue, this increase in cost.
01:12He's also put out a statement saying that really this proves that we need to get more
01:18renewables into the grid.
01:20It's his view, obviously, that renewables are what's going to push prices down across
01:26the country.