Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Anyone else hear the Qld Treasurer on ABC thisarvo?

Paraphrased:

We have to cut back power use so that we're not funding the four days of the year that peak demand is reached all at once and this is why power is so expensive because of the provision of the infrastructure to support this peak.

We need to reward people who use less power and charge more to those who use more.

We need to change the way that we use electricity so that we use less and smooth out this peak during those four days per year.
He clearly doesn't know anything about economies of scale. Nor of quarantining profit from power to cover future infrastructure costs.

I'm not sure I can put my finger on why, but when he speaks I get the impression that he's not got a clue what he's on about, but just repeating the spin mantra.

Okay, I think I've found some links to what spurred this interview...

THE State Government has been accused of using its power distribution companies, Energex and Ergon, to tax Queenslanders by stealth.

The Energy Users Association of Australia claims that massive spending on new network capacity is translating into huge returns for the Government.

It says in a submission to the Australian Energy Regulator that by 2015, the state's take from Energex could be 125 per cent higher, in inflation-adjusted terms, than it was in 2000. The return from Ergon could be 150 per cent higher.

"Customers will be paying at least $300 more every year in southeast Queensland and $700 or so more in the rest of Queensland than they were in 2000-01 as a contribution towards the dividends and corporate taxes flowing directly to the State Treasury from its two distribution businesses," the EUAA says.

"Electricity users in Queensland are being taxed via their electricity distribution charges."
Gee, what a surprise... read the rest here.

I expect Fraser to dribble a reply/retort tomorrow sometime, standby.

Further to the above is this interesting article I discovered by chance....

A short time ago I sat in on a presentation regarding the merging of tertiary institutions and government funded research bodies (think CSIRO) into research units, or CRCs (Cooperative Research Centres) which will run within the university system, having staff from both bodies. The talk is that by 2017 there will be no research funding for the government bodies and they will have to hang on the coattails of what the tertiary institutions can hoover up in grants and other research funding.

I wonder if we'll be over the AGW bullshit by then?

5 comments:

Skeeter said...

Don't wait for 2010. It has already happened.
On 1/07/2009, domestic tariffs in SEQ were increased to 127.32% of the 30/06/2008 tariffs. (14.81c/kWh increased to 18.843c/kWh in 12 months).
If I use the same amount of electricity, my bill will increase by more than $600 for FY 2009-2010.
That is in the unlikely event that there are no more tariff increases before July 2010.
Cap'n Bliar was saying tonight that the increases are largely due to Queensland having to build more power poles and string more wires.
The trouble with that theory is that the state does not pay for this infrastructure in new residential developments. The developers are paying for it and it is passed on to the buyers of the residential land.
Example: One of the killer costs in my failed attempt to subdivide my farm was $55,000 to put the existing Energex power lines underground along our street frontage, and underground from the street to two new residential blocks.

kae said...

Hi Skeeter...

I'm sure I read (and posted about it) months ago, when the last rise was announced, that electricity has risen by almost 30% in the last three years.

They've even told us it's for our own good, to save the planet and to make us use less electricty.

Face it, you and I know, as do a lot of other people, that the ALP is full of shyte.

Mehaul said...

Someone has to pay for the lifelong salaries of our wonderful new degree qualifiers in the Green world. They're here to save us from our sins at significant expense. The Local governments are full of them and there's more in the pipeline. The State Governments will absorb large numbers and then there's Federal Government who will need their share of these geniuses. Who knows where this will end as these green nuts need to be paid. Innocent suburban citizens and those who have been plundered well away from the suburbs like Skeeter will have to develop deep pockets.

Green wackiness is out of control and we can blame a dumbed down, guilt ridden education system and the gullible naive public it has produced.

kae said...

Hi Mehaul
Glad to see you're home safe. Hope there weren't too many signs...
Skeeter's points above are excellent, Bligh will never be challenged on anything she says, journalism is dead.
The bigger the debt hole the state and federal governments dig the larger the amount needed to be plundered from us. The other thing is that low/no wage earners will need to be propped up while the rest of us pay, and pay, and pay....
I don't mind paying taxes for things we all need (or some of us need and others don't and v-v), but paying taxes to cover pecuniary incompetence of the government is against the grain for me. It's not necessary.

kae said...

And that's another thing I thought of just looking at the post and thinking about your comments again... who are they kidding? Bligh says the increase is for the power poles etc in new estates (which are paid for by the developer in the first instance and the cost is passed onto the land/home buyer). Whereas NoddyNumbNutz, the Qld treasurer, says that its needed to provide the infrastructure to supply power for the four days a year on which the highest load is put on the system.
Who is lying*? Who is mistaken**.

*We'll never guess.
** People who voted for the ALP in the last election, that's who.