Daily Telegraph editorial: Coal comfort on power costs

THE “status quo is not an option”, according to power price modelling by the Energy Security Board. They sure got that right

THE “status quo is not an option”, according to power price modelling by the Energy Security Board. They sure got that right. Australians, who previously were among the world’s lowest-paying electricity consumers thanks to our abundance of power-generating natural resources, now pay more than the citizens of just about any other nation on Earth, despite our resources ­remaining inexpensive and plentiful.

It’s a ridiculous situation, and a deeply personal one, too, if you’re on a limited budget and have to choose between heating your house or buying groceries.

Now, at last, we have some good news on the power front. Under the ESB’s modelling, ­average families would save up to $550 a year on their power bills over the next decade.

Of course, this is dependent on the Turnbull government winning agreement on its Nat­ional Energy Guarantee.

At this point, given the structure of the Senate, there is no guarantee that agreement will be reached at any time soon.

Under the ESB’s modelling, ­average families would save up to $550 a year on their power bills over the next decade.

Yet there is also bad news from the ESB, which estimates that following an initial reduc­tion in power costs, those costs will eventually increase again to today’s absurd levels due to the closure of Queensland coal-fired power stations feeding the national grid. Consider the situation that has been engineered here. Australia has an enormous amount of cheap coal. Of all the main power-production opt­ions, coal is the least costly and the most reliable.

So we’re closing down the coal-fired power plants. This will perpetuate the grim circumstance whereby those who can least afford to cover inflated power charges will be forced to downgrade the quality of their lives — merely to remain warm.

Additionally, because AGL is determined to close down the Liddell coal-fired power station in 2022, NSW consumers will still suffer the highest wholesale electricity prices in the country even if the NEG is passed.

“The closure of Liddell coal-fired power plant in NSW in 2022-23 puts some upward ­pressure on prices, in NSW in particular,” the ESB’s modelling shows.

Upward pressure on prices means life-altering pressure on pensioners and others struggling to get by.

The status quo, to use a favourite term of alternative energy zealots, is not sustainable.

STEPPING UP WHEN IT COUNTS

CAVE diving is what we do,” Craig Challen said yesterday as he and fellow Thai rescue hero Dr Richard Harris received their much-deserved Star of Courage awards. “That bit didn’t require anything special.

“But what we are not used to is holding these little humans in our hands and their fate completely and utterly up to us.”

They could not have been in better care. These brilliant Australians are emblems of a nation that steps up and takes charge when the moment demands.

As Craig Challen might put it: “It’s what we do.”

PC VIRUS IS AN EPIDEMIC

SPEAK up and speak out! The best way to address any problem is to simply talk about it. A conversation can lift moods, provoke ideas and spark solutions. And when the problem is limits and restrictions placed on speech itself, speaking out is the only way to go.

As The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday, Australians from across the political, social and sporting spectrums have had enough of bans, rules, wowserism and politically correct barriers to clear thinking.

Broadcaster Alan Jones, not shy himself when it comes to ­offering an opinion, is now urging Malcolm Turnbull to join the campaign against our constrained and overly cautious culture. Describing political correctness as a “virus”, Jones asked: “Where is anyone in Canberra saying we have to turn the corner here? People are frightened to speak out but they can’t do anything without leadership. If they (political leaders) had the courage to speak out about this many people would salute them from one end of the country to the other.”

For once, we need more words from our politicians.