Renewable Energy News

Australians will bear yet another blow to our cost of living in July when electricity prices will surge up to 18.3%, which amounts to over A$250 per year in some cases.

In the midst of a heated “climate war” raging in the lead-up to the federal election, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is adding fuel to the fire. Over the weekend he claimed that there are “no jobs in the energy transition” and transitioning from coal to cleaner energy “equals unemployment” in the coal community of Gladstone, Queensland. However, a new analysis from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) shows that his claims are simply not true.

With the cost of living at forefront of the election campaign, the competing claims of the government and opposition are over a report showing wholesale electricity prices in Australia’s National Electricity Market surged 67% in the first three months of 2022, and by 141% in the year to the end of March.

The federal election campaign takes place against a background of flooding on Australia’s east coast, where some residents remain in temporary accommodation a month after the disaster. It’s just the latest reminder Australia is set to become a poster child for climate change harms.

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