Power prices Qld: Wholesale charges highest in the nation

Fresh revelations show how Queenslanders are copping it the worst as electricity prices continue to spiral.

Wholesale energy costs in Queensland were the most expensive on average across Australia over summer, new data has revealed amid a torrid start to 2024 and a drop in coal-fired power production.

A new quarterly report from Australia’s energy market regulator revealed Queensland’s wholesale spot price on the National Electricity Market increased to $118/MWh over the first three months of 2024 — compared with the national average of $76/MWh.

The Australian Energy Market Operator report also revealed the state’s coal-fired power plant fleet produced less and charged more than in NSW despite record demand.

According to the AEMO, high temperatures over summer drove unprecedented demand, with Queensland breaking a previous energy requirement record on January 22, 2024.

Energy experts, including Dylan McConnell from University of NSW, affirmed households were not directly exposed to Australia’s volatile energy market and the spike in wholesale energy prices in Queensland does not immediately translate to a jump in power bills.

Curtin University’s Dr Liam Wagner said wholesale market costs would flow on in time to retail consumers.

The better marker is the default market offer, which shows households in the state’s southeast can expect a bill increase of $53 from mid this year for a total electricity bill of $2022 a year.

Dr McConnell said the absence of CS Energy’s Callide C coal-fired power station was a factor in Queensland’s prices as an increase in supply would have brought down costs.

Callide C3 came back online over the Easter long weekend for the first time since its cooling towers partially collapsed in October 2022.

Callide C4 is set to remain offline until July.

Opposition energy spokeswoman Deb Frecklington took aim at the government for failing to get Callide C “back up and going” in full more than 1000 days after the initial Callide C4 explosion.

Queensland’s under-pressure state government has promised electricity bill relief big enough to cancel out the price rises outlined in the Australian Energy Regulators draft default market offer.

Originally published as Power prices Qld: Wholesale charges highest in the nation