20 June 2024
A Greens amendment calling for commission of inquiry into bringing back ETSA was voted down in the Upper House yesterday evening by the Labor and Liberal parties.
“Skyrocketing prices and unreliable supply over the last two decades have demonstrated time and time again that the privatisation of electricity has utterly failed South Australia,” said Greens SA Energy Spokesperson, Robert Simms MLC.
“With so many South Australians struggling with the rising cost of living, we need energy back in public hands to serve the community interest now more than ever. A Commission of Inquiry could have examined how to re-establish ETSA as a publicly owned statutory authority that operates reliably for the benefit of consumers, not shareholders. Sadly, it was defeated with neither of the major parties voting in support.”
“The position of the Liberals is particularly bewildering. Rather than promoting another inquiry into the nuclear industry and flogging that dead horse, they should be backing the Greens move to examine publicly owned renewable energy for this state.”
Analysis published by Energyse in April revealed that Adelaide had the highest electricity prices of any capital city in Australia, with the real cost averaging 47.1 cents per kilowatt-hour for a typical two-person household, once daily usage charges are considered.