ENERGY SECURITY – AUSTRALIA

Industry group wants climate policy on agenda in wake of bushfires

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mike Foley
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 23-Jan-20

Energy Minister Angus Taylor will hold a roundtable meeting with representatives of the nation’s power companies on 23 January. They will discuss the industry’s response to the bushfires crisis. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox says the meeting should also address the issue of climate change. Craig Memery of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre says the agenda should include strategies to make the energy grid more resilient while avoiding a significant impost on consumers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, PUBLIC INTEREST ADVOCACY CENTRE

Red light flashing over fuel security

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Jan-19

There is growing concern about Australia’s limited onshore fuel stockpiles, with experts warning that it is less prepared than other developed nations for an international crisis that would affect fuel supplies. Data from the Department of Energy shows that Australia’s petrol stockpile would last 22 days, while the diesel fuel supply would be exhausted in just 17 days. In contrast, the International Energy Agency recommends that nations have a fuel stockpile equivalent to 90 days. The federal government has been criticised for delaying a review of Australia’s fuel stockpiles.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF DEFENCE

No targets, Taylor warns states

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 12-Oct-18

Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor says Australia is on track to achieve a 26 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. He says a priority now is to stabilise the national electricity grid, and with this in mind he intends to push for the states and territories to support a "reliability obligation" at the upcoming Council of Australian Governments’ meeting. Taylor also said the states should not press for the adoption of an emissions target at the meeting, arguing that it would only be necessary if Australia sought to reduce emissions by more than 26 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD

Taylor forces NEG security onto states

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 8 : 10-Oct-18

Power retailers will be required to guarantee a reliable electricity supply under a new proposal by the federal government. The proposal for a reliability mechanism – which was a key element of the national energy guarantee – will be put to the upcoming meeting of the COAG Energy Council. The reliability mechanism is one of the initiatives of Energy Minister Angus Taylor which are aimed at reducing electricity prices while ensuring a reliable energy supply as the proportion of electricity generated by renewables increases.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS. ENERGY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, HYDRO TASMANIA, ERM POWER LIMITED – ASX EPW, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, VICTORIA. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, LAND, WATER AND PLANNING

‘NEG is dead’: States go it alone

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Mark Ludlow, Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 30-Aug-18

Uncertainty about the future of the federal government’s national energy guarantee in the wake of the leadership spill has prompted Labor-led state governments to press ahead with their own renewable energy targets. Queensland’s Energy Minister Anthony Lynham says he has not anything from the federal government about the NEG since the leadership change, adding that the state remains committed to its renewable energy target of 50 per cent. The Australian Capital Territory’s Climate Change Minister Shane Rattenbury says it appears that the NEG will not proceed.

CORPORATES
QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF ENERGY AND WATER SUPPLY, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY. DEPT OF ENVIRONMENT, PLANNING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. ENERGY SECURITY BOARD

Price cuts come first over Paris emissions

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 30-Aug-18

Australia’s new Energy Minister Angus Taylor says his top priority in the portfolio will be to pursue measures that will result in lower electricity prices, rather than implementing carbon emission reduction targets under the Paris climate agreement. Taylor will use a Council of Small Business Organisations speech on 30 August to criticise the Opposition’s carbon emissions reduction target, arguing that it reduce the nation’s energy security as coal-fired power stations would be forced to close.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, McKINSEY AND COMPANY

PM’s leadership on knife edge

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Dennis Shanahan, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 20-Aug-18

The Federal Government held an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers at Parliament House on the evening of 19 August, amid growing unrest among the Coalition’s ranks over the proposed national energy guarantee. The leadership of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is also under scrutiny, although Christopher Pyne says he still has the support of the majority of cabinet ministers. However, a senior minister has suggested that a leadership challenge is inevitable, while a number of MPs are said to have told Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton that they will support him if he decides to challenge Turnbull.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Turnbull in bid to quash rebellion

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Aug-18

The national energy guarantee continues to divide the federal government, amid revelations that Labor has been given a copy of the legislation while Coalition MPs have yet to see it. George Christensen and Andrew Hastie are the latest Coalition MPs to signal their opposition to the inclusion of the Paris agreement’s carbon emissions reduction target in the NEG. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has sought to quell dissent by flagging government intervention to prevent the three largest energy generators and retailers from manipulating electricity prices.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL-NATIONAL PARTY OF QUEENSLAND, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

NEG rebels try to force walkouts

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Dennis Shanahan, Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 16-Aug-18

The Federal Government is becoming increasingly divided over the national energy guarantee. Some ministers who are believed to have reservations about the NEG are under pressure from backbench colleagues to quit their portfolios and vote against the policy. They are said to include Keith Pitt, the assistant minister to Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack. Meanwhile, Treasurer Scott Morrison has rejected a push to include a price guarantee in the NEG, stating that it is inconsistent with "Liberal values".

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Energy rebels challenge PM

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Joe Kelly, Greg Bright, Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Aug-18

The Coalition’s joint party room meeting backed the national energy guarantee on 14 August, but 10 MPs and senators have signalled that they could vote against the NEG in parliament. They include Tony Abbott, Eric Abetz, Andrew Hastie and Barnaby Joyce; they have cited factors such as the NEG’s emissions reduction target and the lack of a price guarantee for their opposition to the policy. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is said to be open to legislating for a price guarantee.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION