No guarantee Labor’s renewable energy plan to lower prices, energy regulator says

The national energy regulator has made an eye-popping admission about Labor’s renewable energy plan.

The national energy regulator says it cannot guarantee the Albanese government’s renewable energy plan will lower prices.

Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) chief executive Daniel Westerman made the admission while fronting a senate inquiry on Wednesday.

Asked by Nationals senator Matt Canavan if he could provide any assurance that the plan would lower power prices for Australians, Mr Westerman replied, “I can’t guarantee that, no.”

But the chief executive said that AEMO modelling was focused on the cheapest way to roll out infrastructure needed to support a net-zero powergrid run on renewables.

“And what I would say is we try to be quite clear about at the communication of our message, which is that the integrated system plan, which considers these things – generation, storage and major transmission upgrades – is the lowest cost pathway,” Mr Westerman said.

“It doesn’t refer to whether it’s cheaper or more expensive for that wholesale component.”

The AEMO’s latest system plan puts a $122bn price tag on core infrastructure needed to reach net-zero by 2050.

Independent modelling has put the cost of the Coalition’s nuclear plan between $116-$600bn. Picture: NewsWire/Nadir Kinani

The costing does not account for new power poles and wiring, but it is on the lower end of independent modelling of the Coalition’s nuclear plan.

The Coalition’s plan to build seven nuclear power plants has been heavily criticised for its lack of detail.

Modelling by the Smart Energy Council found it would cost between $116n-$600bn and only provide 3.7 per cent of Australia’s energy mix in 2050.

The peak body drew on experiences overseas and data from Australia’s science agency and AEMO.

The cost worked out at about the same cost as delivering a near 100 per cent renewables mix by 2050.

Australia's energy regulator just told the Senate that they can not guarantee that Labor's renewable energy plans will lower power prices.

Labor promised us that they would cut our power bills by $275 but instead we have got much higher electricity bills.

Build coal, gas and… pic.twitter.com/lA3x7pHeB9

— Senator Matt Canavan (@mattjcan) October 23, 2024

Originally published as No guarantee Labor’s renewable energy plan to lower prices, energy regulator says