Interview with Matt Shirvington, Sunrise, Channel 7

MATT SHIRVINGTON: Thanks, Nat. Australia's energy grid is set for a major boost in the coming months, with the government announcing a significant new investment in our renewable energy sources. It's promising a supercharged scheme to ensure our system remains stable and the lights are kept on. It comes amid growing concerns that heat waves this summer could push electricity demand to decade highs, increasing the chance of major shortfalls and blackouts. For more, I'm joined by Energy and Climate Change Minister, Chris Bowen. Good morning to you, Minister. Will Aussies be given reliable electricity over the summer? No blackouts?

CHRIS BOWEN: Good morning. Shirvo, good to chat. Well, everything we're doing is about more reliable energy, whether it's getting ready for a long, hot summer, which is a result of climate change in El Nino and the Federal Government and the states, and AEMO working very hard. To make sure our grid is prepared. Just as Murray Watt, the Emergency Services Minister, is working with states and territories to make sure we're as prepared as we can be for bushfires. And what we're announcing today is our longer term plan. Coal fired power stations are increasingly unreliable. They're closing at various rates and we need to get more energy on quicker to replace them before they go out. Not after they go out, but before they go out. And so what we're announcing today is really a big policy to improve the reliability and security of our energy grid, as well as reducing emissions.

MATT SHIRVINGTON: How much will be invested into the development of more renewables?

CHRIS BOWEN: So, what we're doing is running an auction, and when you run an auction, if you're selling a house, you don't announce how much you expect people to bid. And if you're bidding for a house, you don't announce how much you're going to bid. We want to get the best deal for tax payers. So, we're saying to renewable energy investors, come and bid into this auction. Now, yesterday, Penny Sharpe, the NSW Minister, and I announced the results of the first NSW auction under the pilot scheme. And that's delivering more than a gigawatt of power in a very competitive race. And that's more than the previous government delivered in their entire nine years just in one auction. So, we're really getting on with the job of making the grid more reliable, because over the last decade, we had four gigawatts of dispatchable power leave the grid, but only 1 gigawatt come on, we got a lot of catching up to do.

MATT SHIRVINGTON: So, the target is over 80% renewables by 2030. When will bills start going down?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, the more renewables you have into the system, the cheaper energy will be, because the sun doesn't send a bill and the wind also doesn't send an invoice. At the moment, we're hovering just under 40%, around 40% renewable energy. As it increases closer to 82, the renewable price will be setting the price more and more. Wholesale prices now are way down on what they were last year. I know people don't pay wholesale prices, but they do feed through to retail prices over the next year or so. So, that's going to put more downward pressure as we get more renewables into the system over time.

MATT SHIRVINGTON: Oh, that's what we need. That's what we want. Minister, thank you.

CHRIS BOWEN: We certainly do. Shirvo.