Follow the ACCC's lead

First the federal government needs to get its fractious party room to commit to its National Energy Guarantee and the full suite of ACCC reforms to the electricity sector.

Not to mention securing agreement among state governments of various party persuasions.

Paraphrasing ACCC commissioner Rod Sims – poor policy and bad decisions have broken the market and it falls to politicians to fix it.

“We must move away from narrowly focused debates; addressing affordability requires change across a broad front,” he says.

The ACCC calls for public investment in new power generation, with the technology to be determined by the market, to support new supply and to drive down prices.

The government commissioned the ACCC’s report last year and is currently considering its response, which was released last week.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is a vocal supporter of the ACCC’s “technology agnostic” approach to new power supply.

And so are two leaders in regional Australia representing some of those hardest hit by high power prices - Nationals leader Michael McCormack and his Resources Minister Matt Canavan.

But there is one confusing exception when it comes to coal.

“I’m a big supporter of coal, I know my party is a big supporter of coal, and I know Malcolm Turnbull has said that whilst we are technology-agnostic, the fact is coal is going to play a very important part of Australia’s future energy needs going forward,” Mr McCormack says.

Mr Canavan agrees, arguing that; “It's very clear from what (the ACCC) said that coal and gas and all other types of fuel should be included here”.

Coal fired power plants are 40-year investments.

Government has been shown to be a poor judge of the power market in the past.

Using public money to promote one particular type of long-lived power supply risks locking in elevated prices for years to come.

The ACCC has shown us what to do. The government should leave the market alone.