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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-03 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Power Prices

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (15:17): On the weekend, I joined the Leader of the Opposition to meet recently widowed grandmother Antonetta and hear her battle to keep her heating on this winter. Antonetta's most recent electricity bill was $436 for one month, the highest it has ever been, even though she has solar panels. Antonetta's story is similar to thousands of other South Australian pensioners and families who have had to struggle under skyrocketing power bills.

The latest ESCOSA report into household electricity bills again showed that South Australia's power bills remain in record territory under the Malinauskas Labor government, with the average household bill increasing by $776 more than under the former Liberal government. While power bills are increasing, this Malinauskas Labor government wasted three years and spent $250 million on an experimental hydrogen power plant that they admitted was not going to bring down power bills for households and has now been scrapped.

When asked in parliament if his hydrogen power plant would bring down power bills, the Premier replied, 'It will bring down emissions.' That is a luxury for someone who does not flinch at his energy bill. Working families do, small businesses do and pensioners like Antonetta certainly do. They have been front of mind as the Liberal opposition have developed our energy policy that focuses on affordability and reliability.

The Liberal opposition engaged EnergyQuest to look into the chaos of the South Australian electricity system under Labor. There are a number of key risks facing our state's electricity system that have been ignored by the Malinauskas Labor government. It is estimated that, once renewables exceed 90 per cent penetration, the cost of the last 10 per cent sends wholesale power prices skyrocketing by up to six times. South Australia also faces extreme blackout risks if the Torrens Island power station closes in June 2026 without any replacement in place, with AEMO also warning of a 390 megawatt shortfall by 2026.

Back in 2022, the Malinauskas Labor government added nearly $20 million onto households' already surging power bills to keep Torrens Island running until June 2026. Labor then spent the next three years on their hydrogen hoax rather than a fit-for-purpose replacement for Torrens Island. Now, at the eleventh hour, the government have been forced to extend Torrens Island again until 2028, kicking the can down the road to the other side of the election but still with no replacement plan.

Last week, I joined the leader to announce our energy supply-side policy, which focuses on securing a gas-fired electricity generation pipeline into the future. We will work with industry to ensure the old Torrens Island B generators, which were fit for the 20th century, are kept running until our state has modern gas-fired energy generation fit for purpose in the 21st century so we can finally plan for Torrens Island to retire, and if the market fails to build the generation, we will see to building it ourselves.

Our plan does not rely on expensive and inefficient green hydrogen. The Liberals will not let our last important base load generator retire until there is a proven replacement in South Australia, both generating megawatts and providing vital system security for South Australia's electricity system that Torrens Island provides via inertia from its heavy spinning turbines to help provide stable frequency and voltage to the system. I am a qualified electrical engineer, and I understand why system security is important. In 2023, SACOME reported that system security direction costs had increased by 224 per cent since 2019 and market intervention costs for large industrials now account for up to 30 per cent of their electricity bills.

The Liberal plan also recognises the huge volatility in South Australia that is a result of Labor's disorderly energy transition. We will reform the retail market by increasing hedging and reducing volatility, helping to bring down household bills. We will also support gas by investigating the feasibility of a carbon capture storage hub in the Upper Spencer Gulf to take advantage of South Australia's jurisdictional advantage of carbon capture at Moomba, which has already stored over one million tonnes of CO2 since it was opened in October 2024.

South Australian families, South Australian businesses and pensioners deserve energy abundance, not blackout risks and skyrocketing power bills. The upcoming state election is a pivotal moment for South Australia, with the choice between continuing skyrocketing power bills that will only accelerate under Labor or the Liberal policy that keeps the lights on and stops the power price spiral.

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