Power prices forecast to fall over next two years but AEMC warns they won't last

Power prices in Australia rose almost 11% during 2017 but a new forecast says they will fall over the next two years because of the entry of 5,300 MW of new generation capacity into the national electricity market – most of it renewable.

The Liddell power station in New South Wales. Power prices in Australia rose almost 11% during 2017. 

A new assessment from the Australian Energy Market Commission predicts power prices will fall over the next two years, beginning in mid-2018.

But the AEMC, which played a significant role in designing the Turnbull government’s proposed national energy guarantee, says the price reductions won’t last if governments don’t settle an energy policy that provides incentives for investing in dispatchable power.

Read Katherine Murphy’s story on The Guardian - “Power prices forecast to fall over next two years but AEMC warns they won't last.”

Suddenly next summer: What happens when a heatwave hits in a post-Hazelwood world?

'Extreme heat is a test. It tests people and the systems they rely on, not least the electricity system. So in a post-Hazelwood world, how will the national electricity grid cope during hot days as we seek comfort by cranking up our cooling systems?'

It's a summer's day in 2018, and it's bloody hot. It threatens to be the fourth day in a row the mercury will soar above 40 degrees.

It's still early morning, but power-hungry air-conditioners are already working hard in Melbourne and across the eastern seaboard.

In the mid-1990s, about a quarter of Australians artificially cooled their homes. It's now more than half, with Victorians gobbling up about 80 per cent more electricity on a hot day.

Read Adam Morton’s story in the Melbourne Age - “Suddenly next summer: What happens when a heatwave hits in a post-Hazelwood world?”