Opinion

Frontier’s modelling exposes flaws of Labor’s renewables policy

The reality dawning on Australians is that we don’t have any energy plan remotely close to telling us an honest picture of our future power prices.

Michael Wu and Zoe Hilton

Dec 19, 2024 – 2.25pm

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Amid the political fight over the Coalition’s nuclear plan, the flaws in the federal government’s own renewables-driven energy models – and the huge hidden costs to consumers – are being exposed.

The first Frontier Economics report did a service to the debate by unwinding an accounting trick. It revealed the real cost of the Integrated System Plan (ISP) – which has become de-facto policy for Labor – is around $600 billion. This figure towers over the discounted “present value” $121 billion figure touted by Energy Minister Chris Bowen.

Michael Wu is a senior policy analyst at the Centre for Independent Studies.

Zoe Hilton is a senior policy analyst at the Centre for Independent Studies.