Victorian state election 2018: Voters divided on how to push power prices down

Victorians are split on how best to cut power prices, with fresh polling showing that older voters lean towards renewable energy.

Victorians are split on how best to cut power prices, with fresh polling showing that older voters lean towards renewable energy.

A ReachTEL poll of more than 1000 Victorians on November 14 found 60 per cent thought renewable energy would put downward pressure on prices.

But it found the cohort most supportive of renewables was those aged 65 and over.

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Just 52.9 per cent of the 18-34 year olds surveyed thought renewables would cut power bills.

Loy Yang A power station in the Latrobe Valley. Picture: Aaron Francis

The polling, commissioned by Greenpeace Australia Pacific, also found that 85.4 per cent of Labor supporters would be swayed by a party with strong renewable energy policies, compared with 78.1 per cent of Greens and 35.3 per cent of Liberal voters.

Greenpeace campaigner Alix Foster Vander Elst said energy was shaping as a vote winner for Victorians.

“Voters across Victoria like renewable energy, they want more of it and are willing to vote for it,” she said.

“There are many different reasons why people may want renewable energy - they may like it as a way to tackle climate change or to cut power bills.”

In the crucial inner-city seat of Prahran, polling suggests 59.4 per cent of those surveyed were more likely to vote for Labor because of its promise to subsidise solar panels, battery storage and hot water systems.

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