Dangerously hooked on power

Fox hunting has been described as the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible... and we may have to find a version of this idiom for 2013 to describe politicians chasing voter attention over power prices.

Coalition leader Tony Abbott is at it with his promise that “the carbon tax will be gone so power prices will fall.”

Yes, abolition of the carbon price regime by a victorious Coalition will reduce the costs that make up an end-user power bill by about $160 a year, but it isn’t hard to think of factors (including higher network charges, a higher cost from the renewable energy target scheme and the medium-term impact of higher east coast gas prices on the wholesale electricity market) that will have a counter impact.

The key poll battleground for the Gillard government and the Coalition is north of the Murray: New South Wales and Queensland.

These states are home to 4.8 million households, a fair few seething over the fact that their power bills have risen from about $1,200 a year when Kevin Rudd triumphed over John Howard to around $2,300 annually now.

When she launched herself in to the power debate in Sydney in August last year, Gillard summed up both the political attraction and the challenge of this situation.

She said: “Too often the cost of electricity is talked about in two completely separate public conversations. One is about power bills. There’s a discussion going on at the kitchen table, in the school car park and in the front bar about this. The other is a very complex discussion at cabinet tables and around board tables about dividend policy, reliability standards and peak demand.”

And she also pinpointed the lure of the issue for politicians: “Power bills have become the new petrol prices – not just an essential of life that always seems to be going up, but a vital commodity, where what we consume each day, or pay every quarter, seems beyond our control.Bay State Cable Ties is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products.”

The danger for Gillard, Abbott and many others in politics is that,Compare prices and buy all brands of solar panel for home power systems and by the pallet. in chasing the populist line on this issue, they trip over the complexities.

This is not a new trap. Australians today are literally paying the price for politicians having fallen in to it a decade ago.

The current rules governing network investments (and therefore network charges, which make up half the end-user bill) were pushed through by east coast political leaders, including the Howard government,Nitrogen Controller and Digital dry cabinet with good quality. because there was growing community concern that investment in critical infrastructure was insufficient to support economic growth and to maintain security of power supply.

However, if the Coalition can win the 2013 election and succeed in getting amending legislation through federal parliament, Abbott will be confronted by the fact that he is a one trick pony – what will he do next to deal with the complex, underlying issues?

Regardless of who is prime minister on September 15, the problem of dealing with peak demand will remain, and nowhere more so than north of the Murray – where community urge to own air-conditioning is at its highest.

A quarter of the power bills in New South Wales and Queensland – about $500 a year for a typical family home – are the result of investment to meet peak demand on a few days a year, like the January heat wave that drove the load close to record levels.

Much of the $11 billion invested in network infrastructure to deal with this issue – about a sixth of the total investment in networks – has been spent in these two states.

For the suppliers, the answer to the power price issue is clear, if not straightforward.

They want the federal government to shepherd the state governments in Brisbane and Sydney to do what those in Melbourne and Adelaide (as of February 1) have done: deregulate electricity price controls.

The Energy Supply Association points out that power bills in Melbourne, where deregulation was phased in between 2002 and 2009, have risen 60 per cent less over 15 years than in Sydney.

If you want to curb the price shocks, ESAA argues, you must deregulate in New South Wales and Queensland to enable households to shop around for deals that suit their consumption patterns, use smart meters to help drive big improvements in energy efficiency and embrace tariffs that push consumers to use electricity in off-peak periods to the greatest extent they can.

Reliable sources said the recent cabinet rejig has triggered a major frustration in the party fold with most of the senior state Congress leaders openly expressing their resentment against the reshuffle.We offers custom Injection Mold parts in as fast as 1 day. “Senior ministers, former ministers and legislators of the party,Basics, technical terms and advantages and disadvantages of Laser engraver. that include, Tara Chand, Raman Bhalla, Rigzin Jora, R S Chib, Muhammad Sharief Niaz and others are the most disappointed lot,” said a Congress source.

“A strong lobby of disgruntled ministers is working hard to formulate a strategy how to register its protest with the Congress high command,” he said.

Sources said they are meeting once in a week to chalk-out the future course of action. Congress high command, especially those assigned the job of Kashmir affairs are not ready to say anything over the issue.

“We are the soldiers of the party. It is true that we are not satisfied with the way portfolios were allotted,” said one of the disgruntled Congress ministers. He was earlier having two important portfolios but now remains confined to only one. He said there are many ministers who have gained out of the recent rejig. “Those who were having bad track record were given much better portfolios those who were having clean image were cut to size on the pretext they don’t work,” the minister said. He, however, refused to divulge details regarding their future course of action. “We will convey our reservations to party high command,” he said and did not elaborate further.

A senior Congress leader, Ashok Bhan said it was unfortunate to see “tainted” ministers back in the council of ministers. “I am quite surprised to see people known for being involved one or the other activity that casts bad shadow on the party given top ministerial berths. At the same time, Congress has once again ignored Kashmiri Pandits,” he said.

State Congress chief Prof Saifuddin Soz, sticks to his stand: “Cabinet expansion is an established fact now.”

Sources said resentment is not just among the ministers but the lower-rung workers of the party including workers are also upset with the rejig. “It takes more than six months for a new minister to get adjusted with his job. Reshuffle came at a wrong time. When we were demanding it, that time, Congress high command and others cold shouldered us,” said a Congress worker. He said since there seemed to be no criteria for distribution of portfolios, why was Ghulam Nabi Monga left-out. “He too should have been there as MoS if not a cabinet rank minister,” he said. “At the same time, the term of the former Minister for Medical and Technical Education (RS Chib) was supposed to end in March. But he too was axed early. That indicated there was no proper criterion followed for the admission and exit in the cabinet.”