A surprise decision to suspend the electricity market was done in the best interest of consumers, the federal government says.
Australia’s energy system is “cracking” as a result of power shortages and while the suspension of the market may not be universally popular it was a necessary, Energy Minister Chris Bowen says.
The Australian Energy Market Operator suspended the electricity spot price market on Wednesday in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria until further notice.
The move, which has previously only occurred on an individual state level, allowed AEMO to take full control of directing supplies from energy generators to the east coast power grid.
As well, AEMO will set prices for every state in the market until further notice.
“We stepped in through the Australian Energy Market Operator and took control of the market because that’s in the best interest of Australia’s energy consumers,” Mr Bowen told the Nine Network on Thursday.
“It puts consumers first, it’s our best chance of keeping a reliable energy supply and our best chance of making sure that consumers aren’t being ripped off.”
The suspension of the market will be reviewed on Thursday and each day after until AEMO is confident the is market operating properly.
“That will continue for not a day more, not a day less than it needs to … until the market comes back to a normal sense of operation,” Mr Bowen said.
“We’ve avoided blackouts and we’ve avoided load shedding, everybody’s working as hard as possible so that can continue to be the case.”
AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman said the suspension was needed to ensure a reliable supply of electricity and was not expected to push up power prices paid by households and businesses.
“The situation in recent days has posed challenges to the entire energy industry, and suspending the market would simplify operations during the significant outages across the energy supply chain,” he said on Wednesday.
AEMO has been working to ensure enough power is available to avoid load shedding across five states.
EnergyAustralia told AAP the Yallourn coal-fired power plant in Victoria had two generating units online.
“We aim to have all four units operational very soon. Our maintenance teams are working hard to get all units back online, and we thank them for their hard work.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged energy companies to meet their responsibilities to customers.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the situation was concerning.
“This is on Labor’s watch. I’m very worried for families and businesses across the country,” he said.
Mr Albanese and Mr Bowen are expected to be questioned on the issue when state and territory leaders arrive in Canberra on Thursday, ahead of a dinner at The Lodge and a national cabinet meeting on Friday.
