By Andrew Bolt
And so, through a bizarre combination of foolish impulsiveness and indecision, Labor drove up power prices, hitting the poorest worse while doing absolutely no good for anyone but a gaggle of green carpetbaggers:
THE Gillard government’s renewable energy scheme will saddle consumers with more than $1 billion in extra electricity costs this year, and uncertainty created by its failure to implement a carbon pricing regime is forcing power bills higher than they would otherwise be.
Research to be released today by the Australian Industry Group finds that a “well-designed” carbon price would ease some of the pressure on energy prices… However, a carbon price of $26 a tonne is still estimated to increase electricity costs for households by 17.6 per cent in 2012-13, taking an annual bill for a Sydney home to $2000 from $1700…
The research attacks the government’s renewable energy scheme – particularly subsidies for household solar photovoltaics panels – as not offering value for money in terms of either emissions abatement or support for innovation…
The AIGroup research concludes that a decision on carbon pricing could reduce the reliance on the government’s “high-cost” renewable energy target scheme – which aims to source 20 per cent of the nation’s power from renewable sources by 2020 – and break an “investment drought” in new electricity generation….
The report – based on a survey of more than 150 companies – warns that consumers would be forced to pay $1.12bn in 2011 just to cover the cost of household-level renewable systems, particularly rooftop solar photovoltaic panels.
Andrew Bolt is a journalist and columnist writing for The Herald Sun in Melbourne Victoria Australia.
Andrew Bolt’s columns appear in Melbourne’s Herald Sun, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph and Adelaide’s Advertiser. He runs the most-read political blog in Australia and is a regular commentator on Channel 9′s Today show and ABC TV’s Insiders. He will be heard from Monday to Friday at 8am on the breakfast show of new radio station MTR 1377, and his book Still Not Sorry remains very widely read.
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