❓ Dr. Honey questions electricity supply reliability, citing Water Corporation shutdowns. The Minister accuses the opposition of advocating for massive power bill increases by opposing demand response systems and proposing costly over-investment in generation capacity.
AnsweredQoN 285Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELECTRICITY SUPPLY —
WATER CORPORATION — ASSETS SHUTDOWN
285. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to a report in The West
Australian on 29 April that the Water Corporation was required to shutdown
assets at least 13 times between December last year and March this year because
electricity demand exceeded the supply capacity of the south west interconnected
system grid. In addition, other manufacturers were also required to reduce
electricity usage for the same reason.
(1) Is this not further proof that there is simply not
enough electricity generation capacity in the SWIS network?
(2) What steps is
the minister and his government taking to ensure that we have an adequate and
reliable electricity supply for the SWIS next summer?
WATER CORPORATION — ASSETS SHUTDOWN
285. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to a report in The West
Australian on 29 April that the Water Corporation was required to shutdown
assets at least 13 times between December last year and March this year because
electricity demand exceeded the supply capacity of the south west interconnected
system grid. In addition, other manufacturers were also required to reduce
electricity usage for the same reason.
(1) Is this not further proof that there is simply not
enough electricity generation capacity in the SWIS network?
(2) What steps is
the minister and his government taking to ensure that we have an adequate and
reliable electricity supply for the SWIS next summer?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) Thank
you, member for Cottesloe. I welcome the question and I hope the media have
their pens at the ready because the opposition has just indicated that it is in
favour of a massive increase in power bills for Western Australians—another
one! They were not satisfied with the 90 per cent increase under the former
government. Now they are signalling very clearly to every Western Australian
householder that they are in favour of a massive
increase in household charges for electricity. I will tell the member why. The
system in which there are large users like the Water Corporation and
other companies is called a demand response system. There is an agreement. This
is a market facility in the federally administrated market operation that we
have in Western Australia. It allows major users to receive an income by
reducing their energy demand. It is an accepted part of the system. It does not
happen just here in Western Australia. It happens in the United States and the
United Kingdom, and it happens across —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.R. WHITBY : It happens
across the European Union. It happens in New Zealand, Canada and Germany. It happens in the national electricity market in the
eastern states, and in France, Italy, Japan and South Korea. It happens worldwide. It is an accepted method of operating an energy system that has
large and extraordinary peak demands. We had
an extraordinary summer just gone. The previous peak in demand was back in
2015. In the summer just gone , we had six or seven peaks in a row. Nine
years ago, we had one peak, and now we have just had six or seven peaks. That
is an extraordinary situation. It does not happen every summer. It does not
happen every year. The member is saying that this system is wrong, that we need
—
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : It is not
what the member said. It is not mismanagement; it is the careful and mature
operation of the electricity market. The
alternative, member, is massively overbuilding our capacity and spending
billions and billions of dollars on generation for the one day in a summer
that may or may not happen each year. That is the Liberal Party's
position.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Mr R.R. WHITBY : They do not
believe in normal market operations. They do not believe in demand-side
management in which the supply to some of the big users is dialled down to get
through the peaks, which is a normal operation across the world: ''No,
that is outrageous, we cannot have that. What we need to do is to spend
billions and billions of dollars on generation, transmission and storage that
we may or may not need once in a blue moon.'' That is the member's
solution.
The headline has been written for
the press. The Liberals do not believe in the system and the way that energy markets across the world are managed. They want a massive
overinvestment in generation and other capacity and Western Australian
households will be paying for it. The previous Liberal government wanted to
sell off Western Power. We saw what happened in the eastern states with its
increase in energy prices. What the member wants happens nowhere on the planet.
He wants massive capacity so that once in a blue moon, we do not have to ask a major energy user to dial down their use to
get through a rare massive peak day. That is the news folks: massive power bill increases for all Western Australians under their policy.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please
members!
you, member for Cottesloe. I welcome the question and I hope the media have
their pens at the ready because the opposition has just indicated that it is in
favour of a massive increase in power bills for Western Australians—another
one! They were not satisfied with the 90 per cent increase under the former
government. Now they are signalling very clearly to every Western Australian
householder that they are in favour of a massive
increase in household charges for electricity. I will tell the member why. The
system in which there are large users like the Water Corporation and
other companies is called a demand response system. There is an agreement. This
is a market facility in the federally administrated market operation that we
have in Western Australia. It allows major users to receive an income by
reducing their energy demand. It is an accepted part of the system. It does not
happen just here in Western Australia. It happens in the United States and the
United Kingdom, and it happens across —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please!
Mr R.R. WHITBY : It happens
across the European Union. It happens in New Zealand, Canada and Germany. It happens in the national electricity market in the
eastern states, and in France, Italy, Japan and South Korea. It happens worldwide. It is an accepted method of operating an energy system that has
large and extraordinary peak demands. We had
an extraordinary summer just gone. The previous peak in demand was back in
2015. In the summer just gone , we had six or seven peaks in a row. Nine
years ago, we had one peak, and now we have just had six or seven peaks. That
is an extraordinary situation. It does not happen every summer. It does not
happen every year. The member is saying that this system is wrong, that we need
—
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
Mr R.R. WHITBY : It is not
what the member said. It is not mismanagement; it is the careful and mature
operation of the electricity market. The
alternative, member, is massively overbuilding our capacity and spending
billions and billions of dollars on generation for the one day in a summer
that may or may not happen each year. That is the Liberal Party's
position.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order!
Mr R.R. WHITBY : They do not
believe in normal market operations. They do not believe in demand-side
management in which the supply to some of the big users is dialled down to get
through the peaks, which is a normal operation across the world: ''No,
that is outrageous, we cannot have that. What we need to do is to spend
billions and billions of dollars on generation, transmission and storage that
we may or may not need once in a blue moon.'' That is the member's
solution.
The headline has been written for
the press. The Liberals do not believe in the system and the way that energy markets across the world are managed. They want a massive
overinvestment in generation and other capacity and Western Australian
households will be paying for it. The previous Liberal government wanted to
sell off Western Power. We saw what happened in the eastern states with its
increase in energy prices. What the member wants happens nowhere on the planet.
He wants massive capacity so that once in a blue moon, we do not have to ask a major energy user to dial down their use to
get through a rare massive peak day. That is the news folks: massive power bill increases for all Western Australians under their policy.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Order, please
members!
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