Qld election 2024: Steven Miles to pledge state-owned power retailer

A re-elected Labor government would set up a state-owned electricity retailer to effectively compete against itself to make power bills cheaper. TAKE OUR POLL

Premier Steven Miles on the first day of the election campaign on Monday. Picture: Adam Head

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A re-elected Queensland Labor government would set up a state-owned electricity retailer to effectively compete against itself in the regions in a bid to make power bills cheaper.

Premier Steven Miles has vowed to put people before profits, with the new operator to undercut established companies on price.

That means the new retailer would compete against regional Queensland’s publicly owned Ergon Energy.

Under Labor’s plan the “people’s retailer” would operate statewide, not just in regional Queensland like wholesaler Ergon Energy.

The Premier claims it would offer cheaper household power prices than privately owned retailers in other states.

The saving would amount to just over $100 a year on average.

It comes as the state’s peak business group slammed the election promise for doing little more than creating extra bureaucracy while not putting much “genuine downward pressure” on prices.

Queensland’s current default market offer - the maximum a customer can be charged if they fail to shop around for better deals - is $2022 a year. A 6 per cent saving on that would be $121.32.

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Business Chamber Queensland chief executive Heidi Cooper said the plan would do little to put genuine downward pressure on energy prices and instead create another layer of bureaucracy and reduce competition.

“The ALP’s plan to set up a state-wide, state-owned electricity retailer is interventionist policy which does not meet business or community needs,” Ms Cooper said.

“Our data shows lowering the cost of energy is the number one election priority for Queensland businesses. Another state-owned retailer is not the solution to this significant business pressure”.

It would be funded within Energy Queensland’s existing budget.

“It’s simple — people before profits. That’s my guarantee to Queenslanders,” Mr Miles said.

“It also means that our mammoth investment in renewable energy generation will directly benefit households, rather than lining the pockets of foreign investors.”

In the southeast, the new state-owned retailer would target the more than 160,000 homes and businesses on the default market offer – which is the maximum a customer can be charged if they fail to shop around for better deals.

For regional Queenslanders, Mr Miles said the existence of the new retailer would open up Ergon’s ability to offer discounts, loyalty rebates, and different tariff structures – all things it is currently restricted from doing due to its monopoly status.

Electricity would be heavily subsidised in regional Queensland.

It is understood Labor would continue to heavily subsidise electricity in regional Queensland despite having duelling government-owned retailers.

For renters, Labor will pitch that the plan will allow them easier access to the “benefits of rooftop solar through community batteries”.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli branded Labor’s plan a “desperate thought bubble”.

“The solution is state owned generators running at capacity, not more state owned retailers running off with your money,” he said.

The LNP has vowed to keep the Callide Power station running beyond 2028 to ensure power supply won’t be disrupted during the state’s renewable energy transition.

Mr Crisafulli has repeatedly stated nuclear power is not part of his energy policy, despite Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s proposal to convert two Queensland coal-fire stations into nuclear plants.

The LNP has instead proposed to scrap the government’s controversial Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro project in favour of building several smaller pumped hydro stations at locations yet to be disclosed around the state.

“I want to give you certainty that what Queenslanders want is security when it comes to energy, a maintenance guarantee on our assets,” Mr Crisafulli told the Agforce convention on Wednesday.

“What they don’t need is a distraction to take away from ten years of bad planning that has meant that you are paying more for your electricity.”

Opposition Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie said the Labor policy was “weird, wild and desperate”.

“Queenslanders will see through this,” Mr Bleijie said. “He talks about setting up competition in the retail market. When he already owns, as a state government retailing outlet, he is setting up competition to compete against himself.”

“If Steven Miles’ view is that he needs to set up competition to compete against the government, then Steven Miles has admitted that he has failed Queenslanders for 10 years.”

Opposition treasurer spokesman David Janetzki said Callide needed to get back up and running, even though both units at the power station were operational by August 30.

“We’ve got to focus on what is within our control right now. We’ve been very clear for a very long time, we need to get Callide back up and running.

LNP Deputy Leader Jarrod Bleijie. Picture: John Gass

“That is what has driven up power bills 19.9 per cent in the last year and that should be the absolute focus.

“And instead, with Callide, we’ve seen it gradually unfold, and it’s playing out in the federal court this week.”

Mr Bleijie said Callide had been out for 1000 days now and the government didn’t have a plan to get it up and running.

“A big part of our right plan for Queensland’s future is a maintenance guarantee for our electricity assets,” He said.

“They’re owned by Queenslanders and the government has an obligation to ensure they maintain those assets.”

“And then what we have to do after that is make sure that all of our electricity assets are properly maintained, because otherwise you’ll be in the same boat in another four years with our electricity assets.

When asked if he could put a time frame on when the LNP could get Callide back and running if elected, he said all the documentation needed to be released first.

“Because the government has not been releasing all the documentation, then we’ll be in a better position to understand exactly how quick we can get this back up and running,” he said.

According to Treasurer Cameron Dick, wholesale energy prices in Queensland were currently lower than other mainland states and a publicly-owned retailer would mean people could benefit from it.

But National Energy Market data from Australia’s market operator shows while this is the case now, Queensland has had the highest or among the highest wholesale energy prices every year for the last decade.

The latest interventionist policy builds on Mr Miles’ controversial plan to open state-owned fuel stations across the state if Labor is awarded a historic fourth-term on October 26.

Under that plan publicly owned fuel stations would be established in areas where “competition is most needed” across Queensland.

At the time Mr Miles said the government would not hesitate to step in when there was “a market failure for an essential product”.

Queensland households received $1000 off their energy bills from mid-2024 as part of a $2.5bn Miles government election sweetener.

While in Mackay Mr Miles and his deputy Cameron Dick are set to reaffirm Labor’s commitment to building the contentious Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro Project — price tag still unknown beyond an early $12bn estimate from 2022. 

Originally published as Qld election 2024: Steven Miles to pledge state-owned power retailer