Nick Cater: the Mandatory RET the Greatest Rort of All Time

Hostages to a renewable ruse The Australian Nick Cater 29 July 2014 The Abbott bashers are unwittingly siding with crafty merchant bankers. THE power couple. If there is a sound more pitiable than the whine of a pious environmental activist, it is the wail of a ­financier about to do his dough. The mournful chorus … Continue reading Nick Cater: the Mandatory RET the Greatest Rort of All Time

Sun, wind and drain: the Hidden and Obscene Cost of Wind Power

Wind power doesn't run on wind, it runs on subsidies. And the cost of these subsidies goes way beyond direct financial incentives; such as the REC Tax levied on all Australian power consumers - and extends to the cost of conventional generators holding sufficient spinning reserve and fast-start-up Open Cycle Gas Turbines - both forced … Continue reading Sun, wind and drain: the Hidden and Obscene Cost of Wind Power

When the Wind Doesn’t Blow…NO POWER!

Terry McCran writes about the stupidity of intermittent power output from wind farms in Australia looking at July 21. Truth is July 22 was worse. When the wind doesn’t blow, the power doesn’t switch on Terry McCrann Herald Sun 22 July 2014 ON Monday, all the wind farms in Southern Australia, all the hundreds of … Continue reading When the Wind Doesn’t Blow…NO POWER!

UK’s Environment Minister (Owen Patterson): Taking on the Great ‘Green’ Blob

Writing for The Telegraph, the former environment secretary, Owen Paterson, says he is proud of standing up to the green lobby, Owen Paterson: I’m proud of standing up to the green lobby Owen Patterson The Telegraph 20 July 2014 Every prime minister has the right to choose his team to take Britain into the general … Continue reading UK’s Environment Minister (Owen Patterson): Taking on the Great ‘Green’ Blob

Time to Kill the Mandatory RET & Bring Power Prices Back to Earth

  Abbott must keep calm and cut power prices The Australian Gary Johns 15 July 2014 THE British government in 1939 created the phrase “Keep Calm and Carry On” to prepare Brits for German attacks during World War II. The Abbott government should adopt it, and take heart. Of course, the slogan belied the preparedness to … Continue reading Time to Kill the Mandatory RET & Bring Power Prices Back to Earth

Burchell Wilson: Sectors Should Join to Beat the RET

  Burchell Wilson holds the chief economist role at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He's been on the front foot for some time now, seeking the abolition of the mandatory RET - which he sees as "corporate welfare on a massive scale". Here's Burchell unloading in today's Australian. Sectors should join to beat … Continue reading Burchell Wilson: Sectors Should Join to Beat the RET

Mandatory RET Threatens Jobs & Australian Energy Security

The mandatory RET not only threatens thousands of real jobs, it's threatening Australia's energy security. The perverse market distortion created by the RET allows wind power outfits to dump electricity at prices approaching zero, on those occasions when the wind is blowing (see our post here). The result being that incumbent generators are precluded from … Continue reading Mandatory RET Threatens Jobs & Australian Energy Security

Robert Bryce’s new book slays the wind power Easter Bunny

**** Robert Bryce picked the wind power fraud for what it is from the very beginning. In his 2010 book “Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of the Future” (Public Affairs), Bryce skewered every one of the myths relied upon by the wind industry to peddle its wares; and went … Continue reading Robert Bryce’s new book slays the wind power Easter Bunny

Energy Market Gorillas Beat Up on the Wind Power Monkeys

**** The opportunity to make submissions to the RET Review Panel ended last Friday. The Panel’s mailbox has been stuffed with cracking submissions from Australia’s leading energy market economists, business groups and, more importantly, the really BIG players in Australia’s energy market (let’s call them the “energy market gorillas”). Two of the biggest - Origin … Continue reading Energy Market Gorillas Beat Up on the Wind Power Monkeys

Dick Warburton: is the RET worth the Pain inflicted on Families & Business?

As STT followers know, the RET Review Panel is headed up by Dick Warburton - a man who’s acutely aware of the pain being inflicted on Australian families and business by the mandatory Renewable Energy Target. Since Dick was appointed to conduct the first thorough cost/benefit analysis of the mandatory RET ever undertaken, the wind … Continue reading Dick Warburton: is the RET worth the Pain inflicted on Families & Business?