Short-term relief from rising gas and electricity prices is unlikely, with the nation's energy ministers facing limited options to immediately curtail the spiralling costs.
The Commonwealth, state and territory energy ministers are meeting today for the first time since Labor's federal election victory last month.
The newly-installed Labor government has been under pressure from business and industry groups to address the growing cost of energy, which has been pushed up by both international and domestic factors.
But there is little expectation today's meeting can do much in the coming weeks and months, with the focus instead expected to be on medium-term action to boost renewable energy and the capacity for storage.
The meeting has been billed as a chance to "make up for lost time" following years of the Coalition-led federal government lagging behind the states and territories on how quickly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transform the electricity sector to a renewable basis.
"[The] meeting is an important one, especially in regards to pricing challenges in the energy market," ACT energy minister Shane Rattenbury said.
"For too long, the previous, climate-sceptic federal government held back ambition and innovation on cutting emissions and shifting to a zero-emissions energy system."
"We now have a chance to make up for lost time and get Australia back on track to lead the world on renewable energy."
Energy minister faces a shortage of options
Rising international demand for coal and gas due to the war in Ukraine, combined with local constraints due to problems with ageing coal-fired power generators, are significant causes of the price spikes.
The problems leave the nation's energy minister with a dearth of options to curb the costs, particularly the price of gas on the spot market.
Most of Australia's east coast gas supplies are locked in to export contracts, which the federal government does not want to disrupt, given that could damage Australia's future export markets.
And Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has effectively ruled out cash support for households and businesses, given the size of the debt on the nation's books.
"There is already some cost-of-living relief in the budget, whether it comes from petrol prices relief [or] there has been some other forms of cash payments made in the last budget," he said.
But he hinted the new government's first budget in October will include measures to put "longer-term downward pressure on energy prices".
"The Albanese Labor government does not underestimate the serious combination of challenges that we have inherited."
"We will do what we can to alleviate the pressure on Australians who are facing the worst combination of price pressures in their economy."
Addressing the technical and supply problems plaguing some coal-fired power stations is no easy fix and any government support to the sector would face significant political opposition.
New policy needs a coordinated approach
The nation's energy ministers will need to reset their approach to transforming the electricity network now that a new government is at the helm in Canberra.
One of Labor's most significant election promises was to invest $20 billion to upgrade the transmission network in the national electricity market to accommodate the influx of renewables and the accelerating exit of coal-fired power stations.
That policy will need to be integrated with the states and territories, which have their own priorities for renewable energy zones, offshore developments and new interconnectors between jurisdictions.
That will require detailed work with the Australian Energy Market Operator, along with resolving the ongoing debate about whether a "reliability obligation" needs to be imposed on electricity companies to ensure there are no shortfalls in supply.
States and territories can also be expected to push for a more unified, national approach to encouraging the take-up of electric vehicles.
