The engineers and bean-counters are back in control of the Queensland electricity system in what should be a template for the national grid. The way forward is for new investment in coal and gas, and a withdrawal of government from trying to pick winners on the basis of ideology not capability.
The pragmatic intent of the Crisafulli government’s energy rework is made clear in the renaming of Labor’s much-hyped Hydrogen Division in the Department of Energy and Climate, to Gas and Sustainable Fuels, which now sits within Queensland Treasury.
State Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki is not backing away from the bipartisan pledge to net zero by 2050. But neither is he being sucked in to never-ending support for ideologically fashionable projects that should never have made it past the glossy brochure. Top of the list is the Pioneer-Burdekin pumped hydro project, where costs were estimated to have blown out from the original $7bn to $36.8bn.
Mr Janetzki has set out a five-year plan to bring order to a decade of Labor’s ideological energy obsessions. He has not been distracted by the possibility of nuclear energy in the future but has put the focus on what is needed now to guarantee reliable and affordable electricity. Top of the list is investment in the coal-fired generators that currently supply 60 per cent of the state’s electricity.
Renewables as well as smaller-scale pumped hydro are definitely still part of the mix. But Mr Janetzki wants the state to get out of the way and let private enterprise work the numbers and take the risks. He says sticking with net zero is critical to unlocking private sector funding.
The five-year energy plan represents a fresh broom by a new administration that only begs the question: What would happen if equivalent rigour were applied to other renewable energy-obsessed administrations such as Victoria’s.
There are lessons here for Chris Bowen as well. Don’t let the tail wag the dog. Stop throwing good money after bad. Get the energy priorities in order for reliability and price. The Queensland approach is designed to ease pressure on the budget, de-risk the energy future, add significant generation capacity, and apply downward pressure on household and business power bills. It will be up to the private sector to deliver on emissions reductions at an affordable price.
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