Daniel Mercer

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

As Australia shifts away from fossil fuels, much of the debate surrounds the costs - and demands - of building all the new clean energy that will be required. But there's another part of the transition that's getting less attention - the huge and expensive job of decommissioning the coal-fired electric plants that have powered the country for decades.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

It seems hard to believe now, but in the not-so-distant past, Australians installing solar panels on their roofs were once handsomely rewarded. From 60 cents for every kilowatt hour of output your solar panels exported to the grid, to 60 cents for every kilowatt they produced regardless of how much you used yourself, times were heady. How different it all is these days, as returns for exports to the grid have been all but been wiped out.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

Australian energy consumers weary after years of soaring power prices are set to be slugged again, with benchmark tariffs tipped to rise by between five and 10 per cent within months. In a draft decision that will land on the cusp of a federal election, the Australian Energy Regulator is today expected to recommend an increase to the so-called default market offer (DMO) in multiple states.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer

In terms of media releases, the wording was about as blunt and descriptive as you're likely to see. Cyclone Alfred, explained south-east Queensland poles-and-wires company Energex, had "hammered" large parts of the region, left "hundreds of powerlines on the deck" and created risks that were potentially deadly. There would be no "quick fix" as crews faced the daunting task of first identifying the faults along almost every part of the network and then the painstaking job of fixing them.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Daniel Mercer |Rhiannon Shine

Western Australia's state-owned power provider is under such financial strain that its responsible minister went to the government seeking a taxpayer-funded bailout valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. The ABC understands that in the run-up to the mid-year update of WA's budget towards the end of last year, Energy Minister Reece Whitby sought almost $1 billion in additional operating subsidies for electricity firm Synergy.