Queensland Competition Authority points to Callide failures for huge price jump in Electricity prices.
Electricity prices are set to again soar higher for thousands of Queensland families and businesses due to the Palaszczuk Labor Government’s failure to maintain State-owned power plants.
A damning new report released by the Queensland Competition Authority this morning points to the Callide power plant’s outage as a major factor in driving up prices for Queenslanders.
The report reveals Ergon customers will be hit with huge price rises:
- A typical family is facing another increase of $429 or 28.7% on their household electricity bill
- A typical small business is facing another increase of $511 or 26.8% on their electricity bill
Shadow Treasurer David Janetzki said this news would be hard for Queensland families to take amidst the chaos and crisis already impacting their lives under the Palaszczuk Labor Government.
“This is a bitter blow for regional Queenslanders already dealing with the biggest cost-of-living pressures in the nation,” Mr Janetzki said.
“This report is clear the Palaszczuk Government’s failure to properly maintain energy assets has driven up electricity prices for Queenslanders.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government promised power bills would be cheaper 150 times.
“Every Queenslander knows they’re more expensive.
“Minister de Brenni said multiple times the failures at Callide would have no impact on Queenslanders’ power prices.
“He’s now been proved to be embarrassingly wrong.
“This is yet more evidence Queenslanders are paying even higher prices for electricity due to the chaos and crisis of the Palaszczuk Labor Government.”
Shadow Energy Minister Pat Weir said the Energy Minister must front the media and explain this latest rise to Queenslanders.
“Where is the Energy Minister?” Mr Weir said.
“Minister de Brenni told Queenslanders the failure at Callide wouldn’t impact power prices, yet their bills are going through the roof again.
“The Labor Government over many years have run down Queensland’s power plants and failed to maintain these important assets owned by Queenslanders.
“Mick de Brenni needs to front up to Queensland families and admit he lied and explain how he will push prices down.
“The Minister must explain what action he is taking to address the underlying and long held issues in Queensland’s electricity network.
“Queenslanders should not have to pay for this Government’s incompetence.”
TO note:
When identifying elements driving up prices, the QCA report pointed to “uncertainties associated with the availability and reliability of coal-fired power plants and their impacts on the supply–demand balance in the Queensland region. For example, Kogan Creek and Callide C suffered major outages and delays in their return to service” as a major factor.
Source: Section 2.3 on page 6 – Queensland Competition Authority Report – Regulated Retail Electricity Prices in Regional Queensland 2023-24
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