Bid to cut energy bills for a million Australians
Malcolm Turnbull will ask energy bosses to ensure up to 1m customers are told they can switch to discount plans.
Malcolm Turnbull will ask energy bosses to ensure up to one million customers are told they can switch to discount plans to cut their bills, as he comes under pressure from Labor over new signs of division in the government’s energy policy.
The Prime Minister will use a meeting with electricity company chiefs in Sydney today to ask the retailers to write to one million households that could be paying too much for power, pitching it as a way to act on the cost of living.
But Bill Shorten is attacking the “shambles” in the government’s wider energy policy after a series of conflicting messages over the idea of building a new coal-fired power station in Queensland.
Mr Turnbull said on Monday night that the government had “no plans to build a coal-fired power station”. However, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said on July 9 he had “nothing against” taking equity in a project and lending it money so it could get built.
The Coalition partyroom remains divided on whether to adopt the clean energy target recommended by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel. Some MPs are pushing for assistance to build new coal-fired generators to deliver reliable baseload power for industry and households.
With those policy fights yet to be resolved, the Prime Minister will focus on consumers at the meeting today with electricity company chief executives to check on their progress on an agreement made three weeks ago to give customers better information about discounts.
About one million households are estimated to be on “standing offers” from their energy retailers. These are the default packages that are usually more expensive than discounted plans that the customers might qualify for if they asked to switch.
The government will ask the retailers to write to all those households — not only the ones that may be facing economic hardship — and let them know the discounted offers were available.
But it would be up to customers to respond with a decision to change their plans.
The Coalition’s divisions on energy policy have seen MPs such as Queenslander George Christensen push for public investment in new coal power stations, even though Dr Finkel warned that the economics of the investment would not stack up.
“I’ve got nothing against taking equity in it and lending the money so that something could get built,” Mr Joyce told Sky News on July 9, referring to building a low-emissions coal-fired station.
“Why? Because an equity position on a reasonable asset is an asset for the Australian balance sheet.”
The Liberal National Party is advocating a new coal power station in Queensland and will take the policy to the state election, raising hopes within the Nationals that it could gain federal funding.
Mr Turnbull reiterated yesterday that Australia should embrace the latest coal technology — called high-energy, low-emissions — but said that the government would not build it.
The Opposition Leader said the government should tell Queenslanders where it stood. “I think the Nationals need to explain why they have been telling the people of central and north Queensland that they are going to build more coal-fired power stations and the Prime Minister has just contradicted it,” Mr Shorten said.
“The Nationals have been selling a story in Queensland, in central and north Queensland, that their plan to reduce power prices is to build more coal-fired power stations. Last night, a divided government took a different position, with the Prime Minister contradicting his Deputy Prime Minister. This government is a shambles on energy prices.”