New legislation would allow State Government more control of power system
TREASURER Tom Koutsantonis has moved to take greater control of SA’s electricity system, while playing down fears he could trigger a dangerous energy trade war with Victoria.
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TREASURER Tom Koutsantonis has moved to take greater control of SA’s electricity system, while playing down fears he could trigger a dangerous energy trade war with Victoria.
The State Government has introduced controversial legislation into Parliament which it said would give Mr Koutsantonis the ability to order power plants to fire up in times of need, as well as control electricity flows over the interconnector between SA and Victoria.
SA receives about 20 per cent of its power from Victoria. In the past year, there have been two major blackouts and a separate period of extreme high prices when the cable went down.
The Opposition has warned that Victoria, which is losing its biggest power station this week, could retaliate and hold power for itself if Mr Koutsantonis sought to take over the interconnector.
The Federal Government has also raised concerns over whether SA’s new power plan is legal.
Mr Koutsantonis said he could use the powers to decide how the interconnector was run.
“What I can do is constrain it so that Victorian energy is not coming in to SA, to have more generation on to give us more system security in times of weather events,” he said.
“I can also stop power leaving SA to maintain balance here. We’re putting SA first.”
Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Audrey Zibelman said she would work with the State Government to ensure its energy plan did not create “unintended consequences”.
Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said Mr Koutsantonis was “the perpetrator” of SA’s power disaster and could not be trusted to fix a mess that his Government had deliberately created.
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the decision by her Labor colleagues in SA to “go it alone” on power was further proof that the national energy market was broken.
“Victoria is and will remain a net exporter of energy following the closure of Hazelwood,” she said. “We need a mature debate ... not the Prime Minister’s ill-informed political point scoring.”