Power price hikes not inevitable, regulator insists

A mammoth investment in the electricity grid will “not necessarily” lead to price hikes over the years ahead, consumers are being told, amid a new political storm over the future of Australia's coal-fired power stations.

AEMO chief executive Audrey Zibelman with
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg last year.

The Australian Energy Market Operator issued the assurance after predicting it would cost $8 billion to $27 billion over the coming decades to deal with the “disruption” across the network from the shift to renewable power.

Audrey Zibelman, chief executive of the Energy Market Operator, said the new investment would be needed to adapt the east-coast electricity grid as coal power stations closed, but she argued this would not have to mean an increase in prices.

Read the story by David Crowe from The Age - “Power price hikes not inevitable, regulator insists.”