A new Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) report, Energy shock: No gas, no power, no future?, concludes that Australia’s energy policy risks sending Australian jobs offshore.
The report finds that businesses and households will see an increase in costs, wholesale electricity prices are almost doubling and spot prices are becoming more volatile. It also found that 51 per cent of households expected price rises in the coming year and only 4 per cent expected a decrease.
Ai Group CEO Innes Willox said that the current forecast increases are considerable.
“The dollar impact of the current and forecast price increase is staggering. Once fully passed through, the electricity and gas price increases will cost energy users as a whole $10-$12 billion per year. Households will pay up to an extra $3.6 billion a year, and business up to $8.7 billion a year,” Willox said.
“Within business, energy-intensive manufacturers will be particularly hard hit, paying up to $4 billion a year. This will worsen margin pressures for business, with some manufacturers questioning their ongoing viability as a result. Such businesses will be looking closely at options to move operations offshore, reduce their local workforces or both.”