GREENS HAD WARNED OF LIKELY POWER PRICE HIKES


As Hydro Has to Find $92 Million pa for Basslink Facility Fee


The Tasmanian Greens today said that they had predicted years ago that energy prices in Tasmania would rise with the advent of Basslink being connected to the mainland grid with Hydro incurring an annual $92 million facility fee, but that their warnings had been ridiculed at the time.
Greens Shadow Energy spokesperson Kim Booth MHA said that government rhetoric at the time was that Basslink would be a money earner for the state, but since it has been connected to the National Electricity Market (NEM), suddenly the government line has changed to allege now that the main purpose of Basslink is to drought-proof the state, conveniently forgetting that natural gas had been brought on shore for that purpose.
Mr Booth also said that he intended to pursue this matter in today’s Budget Estimates hearing with the Energy Minister, David Llewellyn, despite that portfolio being scheduled at the end of today’s ten hour stint with the Minister.
“Hydro has to find $92 million each year to pay its Basslink facility fee, and of course such expenditure would be factored in to be covered by fees and charges applied to customers down the line,” Mr Booth said.
“That is also $92 million each year that is not available to Hydro to invest into infrastructure maintenance, alternative energy production, or energy conservation strategies.”
“Obviously the State government has used yesterday’s Estimates Committee hearing to come out and try and get up their line that expected power price increases from anywhere between 10 and 15 per cent is a reflection of national conditions, to avoid the hard questions about government mismanagement.”
“Without Basslink Tasmania actually would have been largely insulated from those national factors that the government is now trying to blame for these predicted power increases.”