Tamworth-based independent energy consultant Doug Truman says rural industries relying on electricity are facing shocking times as current prices skyrocketing by as much as 300 per cent in recent weeks.
Mr Turman has been an independent electricity broker for almost 20 years and works with most cotton processing gins in NSW and some significant farming and irrigation operations.
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"Some of those companies I work with have seen a 300 per cent increase in their contracts starting on July 1," Mr Truman said.
He said in the case of several clients last week that he couldn't even obtain accurate prices because of the cap on the market price of electricity enforced by the Australian Energy Market Operator )AEMO).
Mr Truman said the cotton gins he deals with are already receiving electricity bills between $200,000 and $300,000 a month, and this will increase as a scarcity of supply is exposed.
Electricity bills are broken into three main parts: a significant portion is the network charges, about 40 pc is for the actual electricity, and environmental taxes make up the rest of the costs.
Mr Turman said that while he supports renewable energy, moving away from coal and gas-fired baseload power must be slower.
"I'm not against renewables, but the problem is it is unreliable power.
"You've got to have accessible baseline electricity, and it's got to be reasonably cheap and affordable," he said.
