Ross Greenwood: The huge ‘problem’ facing the Energy Minister’s new directive

The new Energy Minister Angus Taylor has been given one directive from the Prime Minister: bring energy prices down.

A few days after being sworn-in to the portfolio, Minister Taylor has used a speech in Sydney to outline the government’s new agenda.

The big power companies are in his sights, with key measures including a cap on power prices.

Ross Greenwood agrees the federal government needs to move quickly to fix energy prices, but they face a huge problem.

They still don’t have an energy policy, and they need one fast.

“Since all of this political shemozzle has happened, what’s happened is wholesale electricity prices are going up.

“Why? Because there’s a real question about how much future generation is being put in place.

“What does a lack of future generation mean? Well, on the hottest days in summer, with extreme weather events, the chances of not having the lights go on increases.”

Ross says the minister’s focus may be on getting prices down, but “unless you get an energy policy very quickly, that ain’t gonna happen”.

Click PLAY below to hear from Ross Greenwood

Danny Price from Frontier Economics tells Ross we’re now facing “significant security risks” in our power system and the government needs to settle on a policy.

“Only a week ago, and for months in the lead up to that… we were told by the then-energy minister and prime minister that it was absolutely essential to have the National Energy Guarantee because of investment certainty.

“But now, a week later, it’s completely off the agenda.

“So it does beg the question as to what do they believe in right now?”

Click PLAY below for the full interview