The Australian Energy Council’s Chief Executive Sarah McNamara expressed disappointment in the Government’s decision to proceed with the “Big Stick” divestment legislation in its current form.
“The energy industry encourages the Government to amend the Bill to avoid unintended negative consequences for consumers,” Ms McNamara said.
“The Bill will not lower the cost of electricity, and this was confirmed by both the Treasury and the ACCC at its Senate Committee hearing. It may result in more frequent price changes, leaving consumers confused and frustrated.
“The Bill provides the Government with unprecedented powers to force a business to sell an asset. This represents a significant shift in Australia’s legal framework with economy-wide implications.
“Regrettably, the Bill also provides the Treasurer with an extraordinary power to compel energy companies to contract, and will be able to specify the contract terms, conditions and prices a corporation must offer for up to three years. This creates serious sovereign risk issues for future investment in Australia’s energy market.
“This Bill greatly increases risks and uncertainty for energy market participants.
“The AEC encourages the Government to reconsider its approach and consult further with industry, state governments and the wider community on amendments to mitigate against its negative impacts.”
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.