Post of the Day
Australia’s National Electricity Market was just suspended. Here’s why and what happens next
Joel Gilmore and Tim Nelso
Australia’s energy market operator has just suspended the National Electricity market. That means instead of the price for wholesale electricity being set competitively, the market operator (AEMO) sets fixed prices and will take a greater role in directing which power stations generate energy and when.
On This Day
Corpus Christi – Catholicism
Martyrdom of Guru Arjun Dev Ji – Sikhism
Ecological Observance
Climate Change
Some say the Pacific island nation Tuvalu could be underwater within a century. This entrepreneur believes it’s time to consider how technology such as virtual worlds might help.
Mothers at the searing edge of climate change in this hottest city on Earth
Pregnant women and new mothers are at the receiving end in Jacobabad in southern Pakistan as they battle heatwave in their daily lives.
Bank group accused of exploiting loopholes and ‘greenwashing’ in climate pledge
‘Net zero’ global alliance of financial institutions, begun at Cop26, can still invest in coal and other fossil fuels
National
After days of power uncertainty, the Australian Energy Market Operator yesterday declared it was suspending the spot market for electricity. So what does that mean for ordinary Australians?
When the demand for electricity is set to exceed supply, power can be cut to some areas in a process known as load shedding. Here is what you need to know to get you up to speed.
Australian farmers ‘need to know what’s coming their way’ warn NZ graziers facing emissions levy
By December, the New Zealand government is expected to make its final decision on how agricultural emissions will be priced, but farmers are already protesting the move.
Australian cities fall on global ranking
The results are in on the latest ranking of global cities and Australia is dragging its feet.
Australia updates UN climate submission
The Albanese government will update its nationally determined contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Murray Watt hopes to break down misconceptions between the ALP and rural Australia
Switching to renewable energy: the rebates and incentives on offer to Australian households
Here’s what state and federal governments provide to help residents adopt the latest technology and cut power bills
Climate groups blast minister’s support of new Australian gas projects as ‘fact-free spin’
Transition to renewables, not new gas developments, will help avoid future power crises, environment groups say
Explainer: Why has our national electricity supply suddenly become so unreliable?
Across the eastern seaboard of the country, the national electricity grid is under intense pressure, exposing major issues within the opaque and complex spider’s web which underpins how power is market-traded, and consumers left in the lurch when the system fails.
Former Labor Minister Joel Fitzgibbon to partner with Australia’s forest industries, joining AFPA
Former Cabinet Minister and long serving Labor MP, The Hon Joel Fitzgibbon, will join the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Board as an independent non-executive director, Chair of AFPA, Greg McCormack announced today.
Mike Cannon-Brookes’ fix for energy crisis [$]
The tech billionaire urges a heavier tax on gas, electrification of homes and a ‘balanced’ capacity market – but rules out nuclear.
Governments must lead on social license, says report – our energy security depends on it
Major new report says now is the time for governments to win communities over to renewables, or risk major delays to an increasingly urgent transition.
Penny Wong misses the mark with China coal claim
What was claimed: Most of Australia’s coal exports are to China.
Our verdict: False. Australia has not exported any coal to China since February 2021, due to an informal trade ban imposed by Beijing.
Governments should seize the moment on a broken energy network [$]
Bernard Keane
The moment for reform on energy markets is here — a business-as-usual approach by governments won’t cut it.
Labor needs to lift its game to ensure koala survival
Sue Arnold
Australia’s koalas may be doomed unless the new Labor Government implements strong policies to save them.
Where’s that coal? Sorry saga of Ukraine PR stunt embroils two governments
Callum Foote and Mark Sawyer
The Albanese government is off to a flying start on foreign affairs, submarines, wages and human rights. But when it comes to former PM Scott Morrison’s promise to ship 70,000 tonnes of Aussie coal to Ukraine, is it a case of new boss just like the old boss? Callum Foote and Mark Sawyer investigates the mystery of the Whitehaven ghost ship and find a little problem of transparency.
Australia’s National Electricity Market was just suspended. Here’s why and what happens next
Joel Gilmore and Tim Nelso
Australia’s energy market operator has just suspended the National Electricity market. That means instead of the price for wholesale electricity being set competitively, the market operator (AEMO) sets fixed prices and will take a greater role in directing which power stations generate energy and when.
Vital cover or junk policy? Why plans to ‘insure’ Australia’s energy system are so divisive
Daniel Mercer
Amid an ever-deepening crisis in Australia’s electricity grid, something has got to give. But not everyone likes a proposed fix to safeguard the system.
Australia already has a gas profits tax, but without reform it will remain ‘a tax that nobody pays’
Peter Martin
Profits from oil and gas are taxed at 40%, but allowing earlier losses to be deducted reduces it almost to nothing
This new parliament could make or break the Greens [$]
John Warhurst
The Greens had an excellent federal election. They achieved a national swing, won House of Representative seats, and boosted their numbers in the Senate to create a virtual Labor-Green majority (an absolute majority if new independent ACT senator David Pocock is included).
Energy crisis: A crash we all saw coming but didn’t stop
David Crowe
The market suspension is about more than cold weather and power station maintenance. It is about a disgraceful failure in Australian politics.
CEOs want energy crisis to accelerate transition [$]
Chanticleer
As AEMO was taking control of a major part of the national energy market, leaders at the ESG Summit were calling for an even faster energy transition.
ESG must find its purpose in funding energy transition [$]
AFR editorial
By blowing up the AGL demerger, Mike Cannon-Brookes has shown that instead of divestment to avoid exposure to fossil fuels, the ESG strategy should be to invest in supporting the energy transition.
The real energy joke is dismissing nuclear out of hand [$]
Nyunggai Warren Mundine
If nuclear does not stack up in Australia, then on-one will build it. But its folly to not even consider an emissions-free source of power.
Shining a light on why our energy-rich nation is living in the dark ages
John McCarthy
What a debacle. How did our energy system fall into such a shambolic mess?
A rudderless Coalition could find destructive purpose in energy and climate crisis
Ketan Joshi
Thanks to an election campaign that ignored energy prices, the stage is set for the Coalition to blame Labor for the mess it created.
Victoria
As the eastern states face an energy crisis, Victoria may fare slightly better. Here’s why
Experts say the state’s brown coal reserves could provide a “safety net”, but ageing power plants and instability from the interconnected national energy market may still pose a threat.
Huge coal-fired power plant operating at half capacity as energy crisis pressures mount
Half of the Yallourn power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley is offline, placing extra pressure on the national electricity grid.
‘This is so stupid’: Electric scooters all over the city but many are still illegal
Several states have legalised privately owned e-scooters, but Victoria only permits those used in an inner-city share scheme. Not all Melburnians are waiting for the state government to catch up.
Developers eyeing untouched land sue state over Surf Coast border
Land bankers and developers will be $200 million richer if they succeed in an unprecedented Supreme Court bid to overturn a key government planning decision protecting Victoria’s Surf Coast from overdevelopment.
Andrews blamed for ‘demonising’ gas [$]
AWU national secretary Daniel Walton says Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews demonised the gas sector he says is critical to ensure the transition to renewables.
New South Wales
Foundations in place to respond to global climate change
Tweed Shire Council has received global recognition for the strong foundations put in place to tackle climate change. Tweed is one of just 11 councils in Australia to achieve full compliance in the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy program (GCoM) for its work in 2021.
The Turnbulls’ dream to make western Sydney as liveable as the east
The power couple wants to reimagine western Sydney suburbia by making it greener, more walkable and more densely populated.
Health staff told to save power amid NSW energy crisis [$]
NSW Health public servants have been asked to reduce their electricity use, households have been advised to avoid using their dishwashers, but for Vivid the show must go on.
Coal-fired Eraring blocking Origin’s access to capital: chairman [$]
Secret documents show Origin was desperate to offload its Eraring power plant because it was having trouble attracting capital amid the investor flight from fossil fuels.
Nature Conservation Council
Opening Narrabri gas field will not ease the short-term energy shortage but it will cause lasting environmental harm to the climate, water supplies and wildlife habitat.
ACT
Icon Water will lower sewerage and water prices from next month
Households will save about $26 a year on water and sewerage bills following a ruling from the independent commission on the maximum the ACT water supplier is allowed to charge.
Queensland
Traditional owners handed title deeds to heritage-listed K’gari (Fraser Island)
The Butchulla people say the reclamation of two properties on the island is just the start.
Qld power generators ‘put lives at risk’
Queenslanders are facing power outages for a third night running, with generators refusing to ramp-up electricity supplies being accused of “putting lives and businesses at risk”.
Coal sector gears up for fight over Qld ‘super profits tax’ [$]
The Queensland government will lift a 10-year royalty freeze on coal next week to raise billions in badly needed revenue.
Boodjamulla National Park plan marks great moment for Waanyi People
Derek Barry
Also known as Lawn Hill, the park lies deep in the heart of North West Queensland, 300 kilometres northwest of Mount Isa and requires patience and endurance to get there on bumpy and lonely roads.
Time for coal miners to pay their share [$]
Robert Schwarten
If a worker got a 354 per cent pay increase over three years, I’m certain the tax man would be in for a cut, writes Robert Schwarten, so why shouldn’t it apply to those who dig up publicly owned resources and make that sort of a mark-up?
South Australia
‘It’s a fiasco’: SA government slams national energy market but says local blackouts ‘unlikely’
South Australia’s energy minister says the national energy market is “broken” but it’s “unlikely” the state will suffer any blackouts after warnings of power uncertainty across Australia.
Indigenous group vies to halt nuclear dump
Traditional owners will proceed with legal action to block construction of a nuclear waste dump in South Australia amid federal government plans to begin earthworks at the proposed site.
Earthworks approved for nuclear waste dump despite opposition from traditional owners, court hears
Barngarla traditional owners vie to overturn federal government’s decision to develop site near Kimba in South Australia
Tasmania
Tasmania’s cold climate, renewable energy has bitcoin miners scrambling
An old lead and zinc mine on the west coast of Tasmania could become home to “Australia’s largest emerging, 100 per cent renewable energy bitcoin mine”.
Tasmania, Australia’s roadkill capital
Whether travelling suburban streets or rural back roads, driving on a road littered with carcasses is an all too common sight.
Basslink halts power exports to Victoria due to price cap
Administrators in control of Basslink have decided not to export power from Tasmania to Victoria due to a price cap on energy for the mainland state.
Northern Territory
Chemical that tainted Katherine’s drinking water continues to spread
The Department of Defence says tonnes of “highly contaminated” soil will be removed and destroyed as a chemical that was found have reached Katherine’s drinking water spreads through waterways.
Western Australia
BP to take a 40.5% stake and operatorship of the AREH project in the Pilbara, Western Australia
Energy crisis should spur real emissions cuts: Fortescue [$]
Cut emissions or face the double price crunch of surging fossil fuel costs and the price of offsets, says Elizabeth Gaines.
After decades with no traditional burns, Noongar Elders return to Denmark forest
After a decades without a burning involving the Noongar people, the Shire of Denmark has seen their first Elder-led Noongar burn.
Yawuru traditional owners to lead important groundwater research
Yawuru Traditional Owners in Rubibi (Broome) will work with the WA government to investigate groundwater management on Country.
Academics put WA government on notice over climate inaction and proximity to resource lobby
Professors of five Australian universities hit out at the WA government as greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, condemning its cosy relationship with the resources industry.
Brad Pettitt
Will closing Collie’s coal-fired power stations be enough for WA to meet its emission reduction obligations? Not even close.
Sustainability
US EPA imposes stricter limits on four types of toxic ‘forever chemicals’
EPA administrator Michael Regan announces ‘aggressive action’ but new PFAS limits are advisory and critics call them ‘baby steps’
Weeds taking over? Why you shouldn’t simply pull them out
Catching weeds at the right moment requires the careful eye of any other form of gardening.
For ESG, with great power comes great responsibility [$]
Jonathan Shapiro
The ESG movement has entrenched itself in the global capital markets. Now the real work begins for its proponents.
Nature Conservation
Record flooding and rockslides destroy houses, bridges and roads in Yellowstone National Park
Record flooding and rockslides from days of unprecedented heavy rain have prompted the rare closure of all five entrances to the United States’ Yellowstone National Park
Climate change could trigger toxic disasters along Lake Michigan, new report finds
A report released Wednesday warns that rising lake levels, strong wind gusts and high waves are inching closer to flooding hazardous spots in northern Illinois, including coal, nuclear and Superfund sites.
In U.S. Caribbean, new fishery plan would help marine life – and people
Stakeholders in the U.S. Caribbean agree that changing ocean conditions and poor water quality put fish and corals at risk, posing threats to businesses, tourism, and the ecosystem.
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