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The Conversation
The Conversation
Environment
Bruce Mountain, Director, Victoria Energy Policy Centre, Victoria University

Electricity prices are spiking, ten times as much as normal. Here are some educated guesses as to why

Electricity SA New South Wales Queensland Australia Coal Labor National Electricity Market
Shutterstock

Electricity prices in the short-term (“spot”) wholesale markets in Australia are surging again.

As I first drafted this, at 11.30pm on Tuesday, while electricity demands were not high, the prices quoted for each five-minute interval in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia were around A$250 per megawatt-hour, roughly ten times what they would normally be.

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