A price cap on gas and short-term rebates for household energy bills will help blunt some of the rampant price gouging by gas corporations, but a swift transition to renewables is the true solution to Australia’s energy crisis, says Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
The Federal Government today unveiled new measures to rein in Australia’s gas industry including a code of conduct and domestic price caps in response to gas industry price gouging which has sent electricity bills soaring.
Jess Panegyres, Head of Clean Transitions at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said that while short-term measures such as price caps are useful, accelerating Australia’s renewable transition will unlock cheaper, cleaner power.
“The gas industry has shown its true colours in a crisis, price gouging and raking in the profits while Australian households and businesses struggle with their electricity bills. While the measures imposed by the Federal Government will help to curtail the worst excesses of the greedy gas industry, this energy crisis has shown us that we need to quickly get off polluting, expensive gas.
“Australia’s gas corporations like Woodside export around 80% of the gas they extract, making a killing on the global export market while paying relatively little tax, and charging Australians on the east coast through the nose for the remaining gas.
“Wind and solar backed by battery storage is the cheapest form of electricity, and a swift acceleration of Australia’s renewable transition will futureproof the country from bill shocks generated by the volatile global energy market. With abundant clean energy at our fingertips, any suggestion that we need more polluting gas is a calculated ploy by the gas industry to keep profits high at our expense.”
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