3 July 2012

ActewAGL explains their carbon price position

| johnboy
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Do you realise how little I want to have a discussion on Carbon Pricing? The same loonies from either side banging away with the same tired arguments that have already been done to death elsewhere and not an original idea to be had out of either pernicious lot.

So with a heavy heart we note that ActewAGL have felt moved to further explain their price rises which many people around Canberra have been excitedly waving around as it contradicts a lot of what the Gillard Government has been saying:

“A legitimate question is being asked about why the carbon impact for ACT electricity customers is 14.2 per cent, compared to the Federal Government’s assessment that overall for Australia it is around 10 per cent,” said ActewAGL General Manager Ayesha Razzaq.

“The reason is that electricity is much cheaper in the ACT than most other states and territories – which is very good for our customers. The effect of this is that the carbon price is a bigger proportion of our lower prices than it is of the higher prices elsewhere in Australia.

“As an analogy, if something costs $100 and $10 is added to the price there is a 10 per cent increase. If something else costs $50 and $10 is added to the price there is a 20 per cent increase. In the ACT, electricity prices were lower to start with, so the additional cost of the carbon price is a larger percentage.

“The 10 per cent impact is a national average figure – which naturally means that some states have a higher or lower percentage impact. The actual impact of the carbon price for customers is different depending on a number of factors, including household consumption.

“In the ACT, the price increase is determined, not by ActewAGL, but by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission. ActewAGL benefits in no way from this price on carbon.

So there you go.

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wildturkeycanoe6:05 am 04 Jul 12

Can the scientists out there show me some data please that shows a significant drop in carbon emissions since July 1? Hopefully they have dropped by around 14.7%.
Seriously though, the rise will not make me use less electricity, especially when the temperature keeps plummeting well below -5 degrees. Then I will have to work more hours to pay for these rises, which means using my car another day of the week, thus contributing more to the environmental impact.
The whole thing is just about making money…nothing else.

gooterz said :

I would have thought that canberra power was cheap because most of it comes from Snowy Hydro.

If i’m not mistaken then Hydro power causes very little carbon pollution, so why the price increase?
Where exactly does this 14% increase come from?

Canberra is connected to the National Electricity Market, so our electricity is purchased on the spot market – we face the same wholesale price that all other market participants do (though retailers can enter into hedging contracts with generators or banks, which affects the effective price that they end up paying). Our physical proximity to the Snowy makes no difference.

I suspect that our lower retail price is mainly due to our concentrated population meaning that our distribution network is cheaper to maintain.

I would have thought that canberra power was cheap because most of it comes from Snowy Hydro.

If i’m not mistaken then Hydro power causes very little carbon pollution, so why the price increase?
Where exactly does this 14% increase come from?

If the government actually cared they invest in more solar rather just taxing everything including green power!
http://www.enviromission.com.au/EVM/content/home.html

Plenty of green technology is being developed but not commercialised by the government. Anyone wanting to make use of their technology has to go overseas to realise it.
http://www.originenergy.com.au/3863/SLIVER-technology

I blame Julia for this. And the Greens.

davo101 said :

For future reference the ICRC uses a values of 0.92t CO2-e/MWh so the carbon price is 2.1c/KWh.

On redoing the calculation by helium (cheers bud) here’s the revised figures.

ActewAGL price increase 14.2%:
– 63% caused by the introduction of carbon tax
– 27% other factors.

In the ACT, the price increase is determined, not by ActewAGL, but by the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission.

I could have sworn that the retailer proposes the price increase, and ICRC determines if it is fair and either approves or rejects it.

ActewAGL benefits in no way from this price on carbon.

True. But you will benefit from the 3.8% (27% of 14.2%) that is unrelated to price on carbon.

But to be fair, CPI is ~3% at the moment, so the actual increase unrelated to tax is minimal I guess.

helium said :

1103 kg CO2/MWh for Coal (from a study)
$23/1000kg (Carbon tax)
so $25.30 per MWh
2.5¢ per KWh

For future reference the ICRC uses a values of 0.92t CO2-e/MWh so the carbon price is 2.1c/KWh.

ACTEW are correct, and we do have cheap power,
My calculation on personal usage, Electricity only (I have gas heating/hot water/cooking, 4 bed house,3 pax)

1103 kg CO2/MWh for Coal (from a study)
$23/1000kg (Carbon tax)
so $25.30 per MWh
2.5¢ per KWh

However ACTEW will raise prices 17.74%, current per KWh is 19.69¢, increase is 3.34¢
My daily usage of 12 kWh = $110 per annum for carbon tax + $37 for ACTEW (for “ongoing need for investment in electricity infrastructure”) So 75% of the rise is Carbon price and 25% is ACTEW increases

Enough spin here to power a carbon free generator.

HiddenDragon11:51 am 03 Jul 12

As a low incomer earner, I am starting to feel the utility price increases. The explanations for those increases, however persuasive, and however sympathetically delivered, don’t help to pay bills which are rising far more rapidly than my income – although the tax cuts will provide some welcome assistance here. That said, I have had consistently excellent, helpful responses from ActewAGL in dealing with service problems, and I would not want to see them squeezed to the point where service standards or reliability of supply were appreciably affected. (No – I don’t work for ActewAGL or anyone connected with them, and nor do any of my family or friends).

Slightly more on point, I am a little surprised that there has not been more attention, in the public debate, to the purchase of overseas carbon credits under the Government’s scheme. The overseas credits are, apparently, cheaper than locally purchased credits but are there, perhaps, any reasons for concern about what will actually be done in return for the billions(?) of dollars paid for overseas credits? Do we know what auditing/monitoring etc. arrangements and costs will be entailed?

Maybe bikhet was correct. Everyone is innumerate.

StrangeAttractor11:10 am 03 Jul 12

But it makes green power cheaper right?

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