‘Impossible’: Huge move to solve national energy crisis

Australian energy operators have launched unprecedented action to try to solve an electricity crisis gripping the country.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has taken the extraordinary step of suspending the electricity market until further notice.

In a market notice posted on Wednesday afternoon, the regulator said it had suspended the electricity spot market in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria after it became “impossible” to operate in accordance with the national electricity rules.

It means the AEMO will take control of directing which generators should be switched on and when.

Australians have been told to unplug appliances they aren’t using in an effort to conserve power. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

Chief Daniel Westerman said the spot market suspension was the best way to ensure a reliable electricity supply.

“The situation in recent days has posed challenges to the entire energy industry and suspending the market would simplify operations during the significant outages across the energy supply chain,” he said.

The unprecedented move marks the first time the national market has been suspended.

It follows the equally novel imposition of a price cap across the mainland electricity grids on Monday and Tuesday.

The threat of power outages remains active for the east coast of Australia due to a ‘perfect storm’ of conditions. Picture: Marco Longari / AFP

Mr Westerman said price caps, coupled with significant unplanned outages and supply chain challenges for coal and gas, were leading to generators removing capacity from the market.

An administrative nightmare of issuing legally binding directions to power generation companies to force them to come back online became “impossible” to manage, he said.

“We are confident today’s actions will deliver the best outcomes for Australian consumers, and as we return to normal conditions, the market-based system will once again deliver value to homes and businesses.”

It is not yet clear how long the suspension will last, but the AMEO chief confirmed it would be revaluated on a daily basis, and will return to normal operation once it is confident it can run the market again and not see generators withdraw their availability.

The last time the AEMO took control of an energy market was in late 2016 to help South Australia’s grid recover from a statewide blackout.

Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called on the power companies to do the right thing by consumers.

Anthony Albanese says Australia’s power generators ‘have a job to do’. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

It came as his Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, again reiterated he had been assured there was electricity supply in the system to prevent blackouts.

Speaking to reporters from Gladstone on Wednesday, Mr Bowen said the AMEO had his full support.

“I've made clear to AEMO that the government supports any action they choose to take to effectively manage the situation in the best interests of Australian consumers, whether they be big industrial consumers or residential consumers,” he said.

But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton called the situation “untenable”, claiming Mr Bowen had no idea how to handle the crisis.

“Chris Bowen has aged 20 years in three weeks because he doesn’t know what to do with the levers there for him,” he told reporters in Perth.

“I don’t know what engagement he’s had with the gas companies.

“For me, it seems Chris Bowen doesn’t know which way to turn, so this is nothing about what happened in the previous government.

“This is on Labor’s watch. Labor promised people that there would be no blackouts and electricity prices would come down. Now let’s see what they deliver.”