POWER INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

Would you recommend your electricity provider?

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Sep-15

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which was carried out in the year to June 2015, has found that 99 per cent of Australians aged 14+ live in a household connected to electricity. However, when asked to rate the likelihood of recommending their electricity provider by choosing a number between 0 and 10 (where 0 indicates "not at all likely" and 10 denotes "extremely likely") 16 per cent of electricity customers chose 0. In contrast, just seven per cent chose 10, while 24 per cent chose 5. Meanwhile, 42 per cent of people living in households connected to Dodo Power & Gas say they would be quite likely to recommend it, ahead of TRUenergy (41 per cent) and Red Energy (39 per cent).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, DODO POWER AND GAS, TRUENERGY, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, LUMO ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ACTEWAGL, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

AGL Energy defends 2050 coal exit date

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 13-Aug-15

AGL Energy has defended its decision to stick with coal-fired power generation until 2050, claiming an earlier exit would put jobs at risk, threaten the competitivess of some industries and increase electricity prices. CEO Andy Vesey also emphasised the importance to AGL of the Gloucester coal seam gas project in New South Wales, a target of environmental activists.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, MACQUARIE GENERATION, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

AGL, New Hope to take hit from Norway divestment

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 29-May-15

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global exited the share register of Whitehaven Coal in 2014, following a government directive to terminate its exposure to the coal sector. The Norwegian Government now wants the sovereign wealth fund to divest shares in electricity companies that have a high exposure to coal-fired generation and mining companies whose revenues are heavily weighted toward thermal coal. This could force it to offload shares in AGL Energy and New Hope Corporation.

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, NEW HOPE CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX NHC, WHITEHAVEN COAL LIMITED – ASX WHC, GOVERNMENT PENSION FUND GLOBAL (NORWAY), BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, MACQUARIE GENERATION, LOY YANG A, YANCOAL AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX YAL, COKAL LIMITED – ASX CKA, COCKATOO COAL LIMITED – ASX COK, AXA SA, OXFORD UNIVERSITY, CLIMATE INSTITUTE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Pressure is on for Snowy Hydro

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 11-Feb-15

Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad has downplayed speculation that privatisation may again be on the agenda for the government-owned power company. Meanwhile, he says the group needs to deliver on its growth forecasts and projected synergies in order to justify its acquisition of Lumo Energy and the Colongra gas-fired power station in 2014. Snowy Hydro boasts around $A1.2bn worth of debt following the acquisitions

CORPORATES
SNOWY HYDRO LIMITED, LUMO ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, RED ENERGY PTY LTD, INFRATIL LIMITED – ASX IFZ, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD, ONE.TEL LIMITED, INFRASTRUCTURE NEW SOUTH WALES

Old power stations drive blackout risk

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Original article by Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 12-Jan-15

It is estimated that Australia’s National Energy Market has about 9,000 megawatts of electricity that is surplus to demand. However, Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane says the Federal Government does not intend to pay power companies to shut down older power stations, arguing that the issue needs to be addressed by the market. AGL Energy chairman Jeremy Maycock has previously raised concerns that power blackouts may become more frequent as companies are continuing to operate older power stations

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY AND SCIENCE, AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGL, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR

American import to steer AGL through times of change

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 26 : 19-Nov-14

AGL Energy CEO Michael Fraser will be succeeded by Andrew Vesey in February 2015. Vesey will receive a fixed salary of $A1.9m a year, plus short- and long-term incentives. US-born Vesey is currently the COO of AES Corporation, and has previously been CEO of Australian electricity network company CitiPower. AGL chairman Jeremy Maycock says there are unlikely to be significant changes to the energy group’s executive ranks under the new CEO

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK, AES CORPORATION, CITIPOWER LIMITED, ERNST AND YOUNG, MACQUARIE GENERATION, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, ORIGIN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX ORG, ENERGYAUSTRALIA PTY LTD

AGL to lead the solar charge

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Original article by Matt Chambers
The Australian – Page: 21 : 17-Nov-14

Marc England, head of group strategy and new energy at AGL Energy, will on 17 November 2014 address the "Australian Utility Week" event. He will unveil a plan to invest in domestic solar power panels installations, storage batteries and smart meters, to enable some one million households to become independent of the electricity grid by 2020. The move is designed to ensure AGL’s continued relevance in a changing energy market. It is currently among the largest generators of power from coal-fired plants

CORPORATES
AGL ENERGY LIMITED – ASX AGK

More bushfire class actions against AusNet

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Original article by Steve Lillebuen
The Age – Page: 3 : 3-Oct-14

Residents who lost property in separate bushfires in Gippsland and to the north of Melbourne in early 2014 have launched class action law suits. The respondent is listed electric utility AusNet Services, which previously reached out-of-court settlements worth close to $A400m related to the devastating 2009 bushfires in Victoria. In the two new cases, the claimants are seeking $A50m and $A5m respectively. The law firm acting on their behalf is Maddens

CORPORATES
AUSNET SERVICES LIMITED – ASX AST, MADDENS

Abbott’s plan to axe RET

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1/ & 4 : 18-Aug-14

The Australian Government is believed to planning to abolish the Renewable Energy Target (RET), and will get Dick Warburton to examine this option. Warburton’s review of the RET recommended that it be scaled back, but any such move would be opposed by the Palmer United Party, which does not want changes to the RET before the next federal election. Infigen Energy MD Miles George has expressed concern about the potential impact of any changes to the RET

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, PALMER UNITED PARTY, INFIGEN ENERGY LIMITED – ASX IFN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, CLIMATE INSTITUTE (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED

Alinta eyes Lumo in east coast push

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 5-Aug-14

New Zealand-based Infratil is divesting its Lumo Energy gas and electricity retailing business in Australia. Alinta Energy has joined Pacific Hydro and M2 Telecommunications as a potential acquirer, as the utility continues its expansion from the home market of Western Australia into the eastern states. However CEO Jeff Dimery notes that the recent over-supply of electricity due to new wind power plants means he will seek lower prices for generation assets on the market after privatisations in Queensland and New South Wales. Alinta has been owned by US private equity firm TPG Capital since the beginning of 2011

CORPORATES
ALINTA ENERGY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, INFRATIL LIMITED – ASX IFZ, LUMO ENERGY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, M2 GROUP LIMITED – ASX MTU, PACIFIC HYDRO LIMITED, IFM RENEWABLE ENERGY PTY LTD, IFM INVESTORS PTY LTD, TPG CAPITAL LP, SINGAPORE POWER LIMITED, BABCOCK AND BROWN LIMITED