Is the latest idea in Australia’s energy debate really a lifeline for coal?

The latest big idea in Australia’s energy debate is being portrayed as a lifeline for coal power, but the proposal may not be needed at all.

The ACCC report is calling for a major shake-up
 of the energy industry's power structures.

The idea would lead the federal government to subsidise the construction of new power stations, giving heart to coal advocates who believe Australia needs new coal-fired generators to fill a looming shortage.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is open to the proposal from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, but that does not mean voters will be promised a new coal power station in the near future.

Read the analysis by David Crowe from The Age - "Is the latest idea in Australia’s energy debate really a lifeline for coal?”

Malcolm Turnbull's 'energy revolution': lower prices, lower emissions, greater supply

Coal-fired power plants have been thrown a lifeline by Malcolm Turnbull's "game-changing" new energy policy, which boasts it can cut electricity bills, end summer blackouts, and meet Australia's Paris emissions commitments with "no subsidies, no taxes, and no trading schemes”.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with Environment
and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg. 

The Prime Minister said the framework, which is scheduled to begin from 2020, was recommended by "real experts in this field, in the national energy market and its operation”.

"It creates a level playing field for the first time. No more industry policy, no more picking winners, no more favouring one technology after another, but simply ensuring that we have a reliable energy system, that we keep the lights on, that we do so in a way that is affordable and, of course, we meet those international commitments," he said.

The proposed system, which requires the approval of states leaders at future Council of Australian Governments meetings, will work by requiring electricity retailers to source a minimum component of their power from so-called "dispatchable" or baseload suppliers - that is, not intermittent energy such as wind and solar but coal, gas, and hydro.

Read Mark Kenny’s story in today’s Melbourne Age -  “Malcolm Turnbull's 'energy revolution': lower prices, lower emissions, greater supply.”