Failure to fully implement Finkel Review causing energy uncertainty: AEMC

The lack of a credible, long-term mechanism to achieve Australia's emissions reduction commitments has created uncertainty and deterred investment in the sector, a key energy market regulator says.

Ongoing security and reliability of energy supply is
 likely to be affected as the shift is made from
synchronous supplies – traditional power sources
such as coal or hydro – to non-synchronous – such
as wind or solar. 

Speaking at an energy regulators' forum on Tuesday, Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) chairman John Pierce said Australia's energy markets were undergoing a massive transformation, but it would not be a neat one.

In a discussion paper launched in conjunction with the event, AEMC said energy policy uncertainty in recent years had led to investment delays and consequent electricity price rises and risks to the security and reliability of the system.

"This uncertainty, around incentives for renewable energy or penalties for emissions, has counter-acted the signals for new investment coming from recent high wholesale prices," the paper said.

Read Cole Latimer’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Failure to fully implement Finkel Review causing energy uncertainty: AEMC.”