THE blame game for escalating electricity prices is to further demonise the coal-fired power stations, blaming the current ridiculously high export thermal coal prices.
Power stations have long-term contracts for the poorer quality raw, or washed, coal they use, and it's not on a dynamic world parity pricing regime.
Current NSW power stations are only utilised about 65 per cent of the time, which ensures any planned or breakdown outages are well covered.
The more of these units that are illogically shutdown prematurely, the higher the availability and reliability of the remaining power stations need to be.
On-demand electricity to fill in the gaps that renewables cannot fulfil comes from fossil fuel generators, and when this supply gets tight, the price is bid up due to supply/demand competition, unlike when the industry was under stable NSW government ownership.
The price of this privatised generation has been going up primarily due to commercial influences, not due to power station operating costs/ inputs.
Reminds me of the documentary movie about the rise and fall of the energy giant Enron in the USA The Smartest Guys in the Room whereby they were taking generating capacity off line deliberately to drive up prices and maximise their profits.
If we keep taking reliable capacity out of service prematurely, there's absolutely no doubt prices will rise, reliability of supply will be impacted and blackouts will result.
Allan Searant, Charlestown
We can't get left behind
RICHARD Devon, ("Carbon efforts will be negated", Letters, 27/5), the transition to renewables in Australia is hardly "a rush", and the increased focus is to avoid a combination of spiralling coal and gas prices, and recent coal plant failures, driving up wholesale power prices.
Many other countries, including the two you mention, are planning to increase their transitions to renewable energy for similar reasons. Recently China has significantly increased its transition plans. Reaching 360 gigawatts (GW) installed by 2015, and 536 GW by the end of 2020, its latest five-year plan aims for 1100 GW by 2025.
These plans far exceed their current commitments of over 1200 GW by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2060 with 1200 GW now likely to be reached in 2026.
India currently has the fastest rate of transition to renewables in the world, and has also announced more ambitious targets for 2030 in an attempt to bring carbon neutrality forward from 2070.
Many European countries are scrambling to increase their transitions and reduce their dependence on Russian fuels.
Richard Mallaby, Wangi Wangi
Instability only just beginning
THE Australian Energy Regulator cited a cocktail of pressures from unplanned fossil generator outages and higher coal and gas costs increasing "peak demand" and are driving up power costs.
Who could have foreseen prices going up and reliability down with renewables contributing cheap power to our power grid?
Got news for you folks - the fun is just starting. Anyone with miniscule brain activity would realise that the sun does not always shine and the wind does not always blow, and if we want reliable power supplies, without coal and gas, nuclear power is the only environmentally safe option.
John Cooper, Charlestown
The power is shifting quickly
PAT Garnet says her gas bills have not risen four-fold over the past three years, and they have not, ("It's not 'business as usual'", Letters, 28/5).
I have paid AGL $31.52 per GJ, gas only, since 2019. My letter concerned many large users who purchase their gas on the Short Term Trading Market (STTM) which skyrocketed in May, but has been rising since the beginning of the year.
I assume the increased demand for Australian LNG since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian War is driving increases. As I write, the wholesale price in NSW is now $50 per GJ, beyond my AGL supply price and way beyond the $6 -$7 per GJ that the STTM traded for at this time in 2021.
Europe is seeking to cut Russian gas supply and so these changes could be permanent. The West is now in a war situation with Russia. If the West is to win, it needs cheap energy and we need self-sufficiency in manufacturing and those industries who found themselves without gas this week are the ones we need.
We cannot afford gestures like banning gas exploration and development, I am sure the Russians are not. We also need jobs and I note Causmag, a magnesia refiner affected by the collapse of Weston Energy, have advised that they are yet to decide if they will simply close down the operation.
So, Albo will need to decide very quickly if he is going to fulfil many of his promises or recognise the world is changing very quickly.
John Davies, Newcastle East
Carers deserve a better deal
CHILDCARE fees are ridiculous, we know, but has anyone considered the wages of the people looking after these children?
That money is certainly not ending up in their pockets. Educators are required to be qualified, but most will end up leaving to earn more at BIG W. They've been functioning during the entirety of the pandemic - fulfilling the job description of nurses and teachers as they respond to sick children, managing medical and behavioural complexities, planning for children's learning and so much more that I just couldn't be bothered to mention.
In short, if you haven't been around since the last millennium their job has gotten a lot harder and I think it's only fair they're paid accordingly.
Odessa Kout, Mayfield
Surprise in water bill
WITH all the concern over recent months about the increase in gas and electricity prices, I urge residents to carefully check their water bills.
When we got our last account our water usage was up by $100. I contacted the water board and followed their meter checklist. No leaks on my side.
I explained to them that we have a water tank to supply water to the toilets and washing machine. As we have had one of the wettest summers there was no need to water the garden. We were also away from home for almost three weeks of the billing period. It is only the 2 of us that live here.
The water board did get back to me and took $50 from my bill. No explanation offered. I again contacted them to ask what the issue was. I only asked for someone to check the system. No one contacted me.
Then I get an email with a small graph to show usage and the offer of another $50 reduction. I guess the problem is still there. Wait for the next bill.
Greg Lowe, New Lambton
SHORT TAKES
WELL done Mike Cannon-Brookes ... another Aussie company thrown into disarray by a divisive green activist. Anyone with money is a scientist now.
Ian Rees, Waratah West
THE Liberal Party of Australia look like voting themselves into complete political irrelevance by installing hard-liner Peter Dutton as their new leader. Discarded by the electorate at the last election, the Libs are now heading to the dustbin of political oblivion for the next decade.
Mac Maguire, Charlestown
THE Morrison government's cruel treatment of the Murrugappan family is ample testament to their lack of compassion. This cruelty also put the lie to their claim of superior economic management. It is good to see an end to the waste of millions of taxpayers dollars persecuting a family which had been contributing to Australia. May the family's return to Biloela be happy and productive. As for Dutton and his ilk, I ask, when do we get our money back?
Peter Ronne, Woodberry
WHAT are the odds that Greg Hunt and Steve Barnett, (Short Takes, 28/5), got their inspiration to label Tanya Plibersek the new "mean girl" of politics from Sky News?
Lloyd Davies, Stockton
THE Herald article quotes Tim Flannery, ("Fired up over air pollution", Herald, 28/5). Isn't he the man who stated, "Our dams will never fill again" and "the South Pole will be melted completely by 2020"?
Steve Thompson, Redhead
JUST read that Scott Morrison was booed at the AFL "by 30,000 fans". I doubt that 30,000 were bogan enough to do that. And I believe his wife has also suffered the indignity of insults on social media. How totally disgusting, and unAustralian it is. This is not the country I grew up in.
Ray Cross, Morpeth
TO all you Labor supporters out there, congratulations on your win. But now let's be real. Well said Greg Hunt, (Short Takes, 28/5), guess we will hear no response. Great news for giving our First Nation a voice. Bravo. However, I still think in three years time we will be in more debt than now and be a nation that gets pushed around. My Granny always said, "Be careful what you wish for".
Nick Maguire, Redhead
WHAT next? The non-binary hole? As a tradie I've seen it go from manhole to person hole.
Mick Porter, Raymond Terrace
NO human can feel safe in this world, so the best we can do is try and protect ourselves, by looking left, then right, then left again before we cross a road.
Dave Wilson, Bar Beach
GEORGES Clemenceau, former French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France in the early 1900's, once said, "I don't know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace an interlude during war." He may not have been surprised to learn that nothing has changed since that time.
