SA’s ELECTRICITY crisis is affecting all South Australians, but it seems to have hit regional SA much harder.
Premier Jay Weatherill and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis have created the most unreliable and expensive electricity network in the country.
The infamous statewide blackout cost SA $370 million.
In metropolitan Adelaide, the majority of power was restored overnight, but in regions such as the Eyre Peninsula, the power was out for almost a week.
With half a million people and 25 per cent of the state’s economic activity coming out of our regions, the situation is dire.
Business SA calculated the median loss for individual businesses at $5000, but on the EP, the loss to individual businesses was double that.
Our Mid North and EP regions have since been subjected to repeated power failures, taking a heavy toll on residents and businesses alike.
The unreliability of our electricity supply is one of the biggest challenges facing SA.
When the lights go out, we can’t switch them back on quickly enough and, more worryingly, we seem powerless to stop them going out – pardon the pun.
Businesses need reliability.
How can we expect to attract new businesses and industries to SA when the state government cannot guarantee a reliable power supply?
How can we expect South Australian businesses to compete in national and international markets when our electricity costs are sky-high and supply is unreliable?
Businesses are taking desperate measures, resorting to establishing their own power generation and abandoning their reliance on SA’s unstable electricity grid.
South Australian businesses should not be burdened with this hefty cost.
To add insult to injury, SA also has the highest electricity costs in the country.
As of mid-December 2016, Australian Stock Exchange data showed SA’s Base Future Contract price for the March quarter this year was $145, compared with $54.70 in Vic.
This means electricity prices are going up for businesses, households, farmers, pensioners, schools, sporting and community clubs and every other South Australian.
This means jobs, businesses and economic development are much more likely to be located on the Victorian side of the border.
South Australians might be able to swallow paying the highest electricity costs in the nation if we had the best, most reliable power – but we don’t, not even close.
The costs of living and doing business continue to spiral out of control in our regions.
The Weatherill government has hit regions with three consecutive Emergency Services Levy hikes, SA residents have the highest water and electricity prices in the country, local government rates are forever increasing, and there is no relief in sight.
Mr Weatherill and Mr Koutsantonis have created this mess and have no plan to fix it.
There is no quick fix to SA’s electricity woes but to help get this state back on track we must address the spiralling costs of living and doing business.
A Marshall Liberal government will cut the ESL to the tune of $90m a year and cap council rates. We are also developing a comprehensive plan to deliver less expensive, more reliable power to SA.
The Weatherill government should do the same.
