Antinuclear

Nuclear and coal power enthusiasts confounded – we’re using LESS energy, and fast

Energy producers caught off guard by demand slump, SMH October 19, 2012 Peter Hannam Electricity prices and the power sector have probably never been more in the news. And no wonder.

Households have been slugged by a 50 per cent surge in power prices over the past five years. The arrival of the carbon price in the last few months has intensified the debate and added to the bill shock.

A swarm of government reports – an Energy White Paper, the review of the 20 per cent renewable energy target, and the Senate inquiry into electricity prices – will land in coming weeks, flaring arguments over who is to blame. Analysts will bicker over whether recommended reforms curb or exacerbate industry excesses.

Complicating the debate is a development that has caught the industry completely off guard – the amount of electricity the country uses stopped growing in 2009 and is now shrinking. And the industry and regulators seem very much in the dark about what’s going on… “It’s quite extraordinary what’s happened” to demand, said Professor Mike Sandiford, director of the Melbourne Energy Institute. “The process isaccelerating.”….
: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/energy-producers-caught-off-guard-by-demand-slump-20121019-27utv.html#ixzz29t5NWc3e.

October 20, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | General News