MPs seize on power hardship to renew coal push

A record number of households are being forced onto hardship programs to pay off their electricity bills as they struggle to cope with rising power prices.

EnergyAustralia managing director Catherine Tanna
tells the AFR Energy Summit governments should
trust the experts and work with, not against, industry to fix energy.

A group of Coalition backbenchers have seized on the new data to bolster their push for the government to help build new coal-fired power plants, claiming it would help drive down prices.

The Australian Energy Regulator's latest electricity retailer report, released this week, shows 80,437 households had sought help with their bills since June 30. That was up 17 per cent, from 68,832, for the same period the previous year.

Read the story from The Age by Cole Latimer - “MPs seize on power hardship to renew coal push.”

Record number of oil and gas firms go bust as renewable energy revolution begins to bite

A fisherman collects spilled crude oil at the
Pantai Teluk Penyu in Cilacap, Indonesia.

A record number of oil and gas companies became insolvent last year, according to a new study which environmentalists said highlighted the need for the UK to prepare for the move to a low-carbon economy.

They warned that the loss of jobs in the sector when it becomes clear that fossil fuels can no longer be burned because of the effect on global warming would lead to “desolate communities” unless people were retrained to work in the “new industries of the 21st century”.

The study by accountancy firm Moore Stephens found 16 oil and gas companies went insolvent last year, compared to none at all in 2012.

Read the story by the environment correspondent with the Independent, Ian Johnston - “Record number of oil and gas firms go bust as renewable energy revolution begins to bite.”