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fps-hero a day ago

Look to Australia if you want to see how these energy policies work out in the long run.

Energy is big money. Anything that disrupts the status quo is immediately vilified. It got to the point that our major party at the time lead a “gas fired” green energy policy.

They got voted out, the new guys implemented a subsidised home battery policy. In the space of a year it has destroyed the economics of a carbon fuelled grid. All the economics pointing to renewables being the way forward were proven correct.

Everyone gets their back scratched. If you’re a consumer and you invested, you have a massively discounted personal power station that generates you money. If you operate the grid, your transmission costs and peak transmission costs went down. General consumer prices went down because of a reduction in peak electricity use driving up retail costs. Everyone in won.

Except big gas, who cannot turn a profit on a renewable success story. Don’t let rhetoric become your reality.

zomiaen 20 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It's absurd how the propaganda against green energy on certain political spectrums essentially turned into, "It's all money/cash grab for green energy companies!"

As if the established industry has no incentive in the opposite direction? Everyone is going to act in their best interests in this system, that's how it's designed, the whole point of government is to mediate the system in the best interests of the whole.

AneBytree 9 hours ago | parent [-]

RE "...how the propaganda against green energy...." One problem is statement are made , that depend on certain definitions , where the definition is not what a reasonable person would expect. Such as statements about costs of renewables. How exactly is the cost of renewables measured.?

I'd have to say there are lots people who do not believe the government is acting in their best interests. Its one of the reasons why Pauline Hanson's "One Nation" party has gained a lot of traction.

defrost a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Except big gas, who cannot turn a profit on a renewable success story.

If only.

Chevron’s Gorgon project will be ongoing for decades and making money hand over fist flogging LNG out of Australia to overseas customers.

It'll be a massive source of previously sequestered CO2 and claimed to be "the largest CO2 sequestration project on the planet* .. with the minor catch of (re-) stashing away a very very tiny portion of the CO2 released. Something, something, not let it out in the first place?

Still, could be worse, at least they're not planning on fracking the Kimberley.

Oh, wait: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh9IkUUgaww

sleight42 4 hours ago | parent [-]

The name is actually "Gorgon"? So a gas company named a project after a legendary monster.

I'm not sure how to feel about this. CO2 sequestration sounds good in theory. But...

asdefghyk 15 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

RE " Everyone Wins "

Well the tax payer, would be paying the 30% subsidy for Home Battery deployments, which I understand is severeral $Billion 8.5 AU at present.

One group of loosers will be people who can not afford to participate in this program. It would seem another group would be users who cannot shift their electrity demands from peak times when electricty will become quite expensive.

AneBytree 9 hours ago | parent [-]

The comment is factually correct, It's a inconvenient truth. Battery deployment is not free.Someone (the taxpayer) pays.

I suspect after they are quite widely deployed. Government could change conditions in future that they must be available as virtual power plant (VPP)

There has been a rush on these since people want access to cheaper power and they believe to avoid the power increases to come. That there will be big increases in power , especially during peak time is the forced introduction of smart meters which allow easy tariff change etc ....

AneBytree 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

RE "....Look to Australia if you want to see how these energy policies work out in the long run......"

The timeline is several years

perpetuallunch 21 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> General consumer prices went down

What now?

Where in Australia have consumer prices gone down?

> because of a reduction in peak electricity use driving up retail costs

I don’t understand what you’re trying to day here.

ZeroGravitas 18 hours ago | parent | next [-]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-26/power-prices-fall-in-...

> Power prices to fall for most customers, with bigger drops for businesses

> What is driving [lower prices] is a reduction in the cost of producing electricity. We've seen a lot more batteries and solar systems come into the electricity market in the last 12 months. They've been making the market much less volatile," Ms Savage said.

> "We've not needed as much gas and hydro generation in the evening peaks, and that's what's really cut that cost of wholesale generation."

perpetuallunch 15 hours ago | parent [-]

That is an article about a prediction, not actual data about a drop in price.

An article from a month and a half in the past.

Still waiting.

AneBytree 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

RE "....consumer prices went down...."

A bit misleading comment .. Yes , but after prices went up from renewables

perpetuallunch 8 hours ago | parent [-]

Yep, exactly. Due to the deranged Net Zero policies of successive Australian federal and state governments, Australia have experienced skyrocketing electricity prices, so any small decrease in residential and industrial prices now is effectively a shit sandwich.

jimmydorry 20 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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