We need renewables short term

Mr Hemmings (CCN 482) has confused correlation for causation by assuming rising electricity prices and rising dependency on renewable energy are connected.

Note that I am not refuting the claims he cited from Mr King’s CCN 480 letter; I would say that these are completely correct.

Electricity costs have been rising drastically worldwide for a number of reasons – most notably, due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, since Russia is one of the largest exporters of oil and gas in the world.

This has been very well documented by a number of reputable sources, as has the link between oil costs and energy costs, and they’re actually both quite interesting (albeit depressing) to read about.

Prices were always going to go up anyway.

Cheaper doesn’t mean “less than the last bill” – it means “less than this one would otherwise have been”.

Also, we should note that the state with the most access to renewable energy (Victoria) has seen the lowest rise in electricity bills in recent years.

That could be a coincidence, but I wouldn’t want to write it off too quickly.

I’d suggest reading the Grattan Institute’s article on net zero (18/3/25) for more information on the cost of renewables.

In short, large-scale renewables won’t make everything immediately cheaper because of all the infrastructure we have to build.

But if we don’t do this, we’d see costs spike in the future due to the cost of retrofitting our coal plants.

That infrastructure money is getting spent no matter what.

Small-scale renewable implementation, such as an individual home, will however make a larger impact in less time.

Frankly, we all know that coal plants are killing the environment.

Nuclear may help to supplant coal in the long term, but renewables are what we need over the next 5-10 years.

Email Apr 14
Theodore Brown, Tumbi Umbi