By Andrew Bolt ~
Green power will kill heavy industry in South Australia:
South Australia’s power crisis was a “wake-up call” for other states on the impact on consumers of subsidised renewable energy, particularly wind power, a Liberal senator has warned.
Clements Gap wind plant in South Australia
Chris Back called for a moratorium on new wind farms, and no more subsidies for wind energy generators until the Productivity Commission conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the effect the industry was having on the National Electricity Market and retail electricity costs.
“There should be no further subsidies paid for an intermittent and unreliable power source that can be seen as a proven failure…,” Senator Back said.
Wholesale electricity prices in South Australian have now “normalised” to double the rate of other states…
[W]holesale electricity prices spiked from an average of $100 per megawatt hour to almost $14,000/MWh on July 7, and triggered major businesses to threaten shutdowns…
The sapping of power by wind turbines during calm weather on July 7 at the height of the crisis was also blamed for the price surge in the state, which is 40 per cent reliant on wind and solar power generation since the closure of Alinta’s coal-fired power station in May.
UPDATE
Rachel Baxendale & Michael Owen:
Turnbull has kept an election promise to support South Australian steelworkers, delivering a $49.2 million loan to ailing Whyalla steelworks owner Arrium…
Reader Peter of Bellevue Hill:
If Turnbull really wanted to do something to help Arrium and the rest of the state, why not work on ways to reduce the extraordinary cost of base-load power in South Australia?
Andrew Bolt writes for the Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph, and The Advertiser and runs Australia’s most-read political blog. On week nights he hosts The Bolt Report on Sky News at 7pm and his Macquarie Radio show at 8pm with Steve Price.
Read more excellent articles from Andrew Bolt’s Blog . http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/
