Families $480 worse off under ALP energy plan

Victorian households will pay hundreds of dollars more to keep the lights on under Labor’s ambitious climate change policy, new modelling has found.

Families will pay hundreds of dollars more to keep the lights on under Labor’s ambitious climate change policy, new modelling has found.

A new analysis comparing the ­energy policies of the major parties found Labor’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 would leave Victorian households an average of $480 worse off by the time the policy is fully ­implemented.

According to the modelling by the Coalition-aligned Menzies and Page Research Centres, household power bills will rise between six and 30 per cent by 2030 under Labor.

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Under the Coalition’s policy, the average household power bill will be up to 40 per cent lower by 2030.

In Victoria, the average annual power bill will fall from about $1208 a year in 2017-18 to $796 under the ­Coalition’s plan to reduce emissions by 26 per cent by 2030.

Under Labor’s more ambitious emissions reduction target, annual household power bills are expected to hit $1276 by 2030, representing a 6 per cent jump.

The report found electricity prices for small and medium businesses with an annual consumption of 16,000 kWh will generally remain unchanged under Labor, but drop by an Australia-wide average of $1500 a year under the Coalition.

In Victoria, small and medium-sized businesses will be $1892 a year better off under the government’s more conservative emissions reduction policy.

In Victoria, small and medium-sized businesses will be $1892 a year better off under the government’s more conservative emissions reduction policy.

Three months from polling day, Labor remains in an election-winning position, but the cost of household power bills is expected to be a significant concern for voters.

Last week Labor’s energy spokesman, Mark Butler, refused to guarantee that soaring energy bills would drop under Labor. Asked twice, Mr Butler said “a policy that introduces investor certainty back into the system will put downward pressure on, particularly, wholesale power prices”.

Executive director of the Menzies Research Centre Nick Cater said the finding debunked Labor’s claim that a wider plan to boost renewable energy would bring down energy costs.

“The inconvenient truth is that there are huge costs to reducing emissions from energy production, and these are paid for by all of us, either as consumers or taxpayers.”

Despite abandoning its National Energy Guarantee, which would have enforced a 26 per cent emissions reduction target on the electricity sector by 2030, Prime Minister Scott Morrison maintains Australia is on track to meet its global promise to reduce carbon emissions by between 26 and 28 per cent by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.

If elected, Labor will revive the NEG, which the Coalition previously said would save households about $150 every year on their power bills.

Researchers based their forecast on retail electricity prices from the Australian Energy Market Commission and wholesale power projections from BAE economics.

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Originally published as Families $480 worse off under ALP energy plan