ELECTRIC UTILITIES – AUSTRALIA

Origin buoyed by record Australia Pacific LNG sales

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 1-Feb-19

Origin Energy has advised that its share of revenue from the Australia Pacific LNG project rose by 45 per cent year-on-year in the December quarter, to $740.9m. Origin received net cash distributions of $393 million from the project during the first half of 2018-19, compared with its guidance of $375m-$395m. Meanwhile, Origin’s domestic electricity and gas sales volumes fell by eight per cent and 21 per cent respectively quarter-on-quarter.

CORPORATES
ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, SHANDONG ORDER GAS COMPANY LIMITED

Electricity customer satisfaction continues to slide

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Oct-18

New research from Roy Morgan shows that 60.9% of Australians were "very" or "fairly" satisfied with their electricity provider in the year to September 2018, compared with 61.7% in the year to September 2017. Simply Energy had the highest customer satisfaction rating, with 67% of customers saying they were "very" or "fairly" satisfied, followed by Red Energy (66%) and Alinta (63%). The three biggest providers, Energy Australia, AGL and Origin, had relatively low satisfaction levels of 60%, 60% and 59% respectively. The latest "Customer Satisfaction – Electricity Providers Report" is based on Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey, which includes in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes, including over 14,000 interviews with people who rated their satisfaction with their electricity connection.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, SIMPLY ENERGY, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG

AGL defies Coalition over Liddell closure

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 27-Sep-18

AGL Energy’s interim CEO Brett Redman has reaffirmed its commitment to exiting coal-fired power generation and its proposed closure of the Liddell power station in 2022. However, Redman has told the company’s AGM that AGL will seek to work with the federal government to reduce electricity prices. Relations between AGL and the government became strained under former CEO Andy Vesey over the closure of Liddell, prompting Energy Minister Angus Taylor to warn of potential intervention if electricity retailers do not take action to reduce prices.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, ENVIRONMENT VICTORIA

Greens call for government energy retailer

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 26-Sep-18

The Australian Greens will propose increased government intervention in the electricity market to put downward pressure on prices, including the creation of a publicly-owned electricity retailer. Greens leader Richard Di Natale estimates that a taxpayer-funded electricity retailer could be established at cost of just $85m, while using it could save consumers around $200 a year on power costs. Di Natale will also advocate greater government intervention in other sectors in a National Press Club speech on 26 September.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA), SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, LUMO ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Power price fix will leave customers worse off

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 5-Sep-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission recommended in July that a default retail power price be introduced. Its proposal, which would see the adoption of a retail price that would be capped by the Australian Energy Regulator, was recently endorsed by the federal government. However, EnergyAustralia CEO Catherine Tanna is understood to have told New South Wales Energy Minister Don Harwin that 70 per cent of its customers would be worse off if the ACCC’s recommendation was adopted.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF ENERGY, CLP HOLDINGS LIMITED, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL

ACCC power would be a catastrophe

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 22-Aug-18

Danny Price of Frontier Economics has warned that giving the competition regulator the power to break up vertically integrated energy companies would undermine investor confidence in both the sector itself and other industries that could potentially be subject to such regulation. Price adds that consumers would be worse off, as AGL Energy, EnergyAustralia and Origin Energy have accounted for the bulk of investment in new electric power generation capacity over the last decade.

CORPORATES
FRONTIER ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BLOOMBERG NEW ENERGY FINANCE, MELBOURNE BUSINESS SCHOOL, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Vesey to stay put as AGL profit surges

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 10-Aug-18

AGL Energy has posted a 2017-18 net profit of $1.59bn, compared with $539m previously. The electricity generator and retailer’s underlying profit rose by 28 per cent to $1.02bn. AGL has reported revenue of $12.8bn, a modest increase from the previous fiscal year, while shareholders will receive a partially franked final dividend of $0.63 per share. CEO Andy Vesey has refuted suggestions that he may step down, stressing that he will remain at the helm while AGL implements its three-year strategy.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Satisfaction with electricity providers declining

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Jul-18

New results from Roy Morgan show that customer satisfaction with electricity providers in Australia was only 56.6% in the 12 months to May 2018, down from 60.4% in the year to May 2017. Roy Morgan’s Net Promoter Score for electricity providers is now at minus 47.6. These low satisfaction and NPS levels show why 2.1 million customers are considering switching over the next 12 months. Red Energy has the highest satisfaction rating among the largest providers, at 70.0%, narrowly ahead of Simply Energy (65.0%) and Energy Australia (64.4%). Meanwhile, 43.7% of customers who are "very dissatisfied" with their electricity provider say that they are either "very likely" or "fairly likely" to switch companies in the next 12 months, while 36.0% of those who are "fairly dissatisfied" say they are likely to switch in the next 12 months. Roy Morgan’s "Customer Satisfaction – Electricity Providers Report" is based on in-depth personal interviews conducted face-to-face with over 50,000 Australians per annum in their own homes, including over 14,000 interviews with people who rated their satisfaction with their electricity connection.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, SIMPLY ENERGY, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

ACCC’s electricity reform could crush smaller retailers

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Original article by Cole Latimer
The Age – Page: 18 : 13-Jul-18

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s recommendations arising from its review into the retail electricity sector include the adoption of a "basic price offer" and changes to electricity discounting. Both recommendations are expected to impact most on smaller electricity retailers, and could force them to merge with larger rivals. Tony Wood of the Grattan Institute notes that the current level of competition has not necessarily benefited consumers, so they may not be worse off if there are fewer electricity retailers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, MACQUARIE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

AGL’s carbon loading

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Original article by Sharri Markson
The Daily Telegraph – Page: 4 : 29-May-18

Data from the Clean Energy Regulator shows that AGL Energy generated 43.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions in 2016-17, which equates to about eight per cent of Australia’s emissions. Rival utility EnergyAustralia is the nation’s second-biggest carbon polluter, with emissions totalling 21.7 million tonnes in 2016-17. AGL is believed to be spending around $A23m a year on advertising to promote its environmental credentials, yet its emissions have increased by five million tonnes under current CEO Andy Vesey.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. CLEAN ENERGY REGULATOR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY