By Danyal Hussain For Daily Mail Australia
01:19 17 May 2023, updated 03:56 17 May 2023
- Video of stunned Elon Musk reemerges
- Shows Tesla owner surprised by Aussie bills
- Comes as power bills continue to soar
A video of billionaire Elon Musk’s reaction to the cost of power in Australia long before the latest surge in prices has brought home to many the fears that energy prices may drive them into poverty.
The footage, from an little-known interview he did in 2017, documents a clearly stunned Musk after being presented with Australian electricity prices.
‘Wow, really?’ he says in disbelief when told that power was becoming a ‘luxury item’ for many families.
‘I didn’t realise it was that expensive. Australia has so many natural resources that even if you go the fossil fuel route, electricity should be very cheap,’ he says.
His shock turned to sadness when he was told many people were worried they would not be able to turn on their lights or cook food.
‘I did not expect that,’ he said, his voice wavering, before pausing several seconds and promising: ‘We’ll work harder.’
The clip of Musk has attracted hundreds of comments – with Aussies quick to point out that rising energy prices come as the government shuts down the nation’s coal power plants in order to meet its target of supplying 80% of power with renewables by 2030.
One commenter said: ‘Want renewable energy? Unfortunately we’re paying for it.’
Another added: ‘It’s cause we gotta be environmentally friendly and f*** off our main source of power and then they let power companies set whatever price they want.’
While a third wrote: ‘The Greenies f***ed up Australia with their expensive unreliable renewables.’
A fourth said: ‘Prices are going up because the govt has restricted investment in coal production for so long.’
While a fifth noted: ‘The government is demolishing the fossil fuel factories so they can go green but they don’t actual know a green way of making electricity for the country.’
Australia’s oldest coal-fired power station, Liddell, was switched off after more than 50 years of service at the end of April.
Although climate activists celebrated the demise of the coal-fired ‘clunker’, critics shared their concern that shutting down the Muswellbrook plant in the Hunter region would remove 10 per cent of the state’s power.
Critics have warned that the shut down will lead to a surge in energy prices – similar to what happened in Victoria when a power station was closed in 2017.
The closure of the Hazelwood Power Station in March of 2017, saw power prices double or surge by up to 85 per cent – equivalent to an extra $1.8billion a year that fell directly on Victorians.
The station was closed due to the increasing cost of operations, with the site needing a $400million cash injection to keep it safe and efficient.
Last year, it was also announced that the Eraring station on the shore of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, which is Australia’s biggest, will close in 2025.
The closures are part of the government’s drive to make 80 per cent of Australia’s power sources renewable by 2030.
However, that target has previously been blasted as unrealistic by critics.
‘The notion that we can have 80 per cent renewables by 2030 is bulls***,’ the former CEO of Snowy Hydro 2.0, Paul Broad, told Ben Fordham’s 2GB radio show last week.
‘The truth is… this transition (to renewables), if it ever occurs, it will take 80 years… not eight.
‘Eraring cannot close … If the lights don’t go out I’ll be awfully surprised,’ Mr Broad said.
In March it was revealed that Australian households in four states will face steep electricity price hikes in the coming months as the country’s energy regulator flags rises of up to 31 per cent.
Victorians will see their bills going up by almost a third while NSW, Queensland and South Australia also facing steep hikes.
The Australian Energy Regulator on Wednesday released its draft default market offer – essentially the maximum price that energy retailers can charge residential and small business customers – for the 2023/24 financial year.
Victoria’s Essential Services Commission did the same for that state and signalled a 30 per cent increase in household electricity prices and 31 per cent for small businesses.
This would see a typical household bill would rise from $1,403 to $1,829 per year, while small businesses could expect an increase from $5,620 to about $7,358.
About 400,000 Victorian households and 55,000 small business customers are on that state’s default offer, according to Commission.
For NSW, Queensland and South Australia the Australian Energy Regulator flagged price increases of between 19.5 and 23.7 per cent.
Default offers for residential customers in NSW were expected to increase by between 20.9 per cent and 23.7 per cent for small businesses.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced energy rebates in the recent Federal Budget in an attempt to support Aussies struggling with the cost of electricity.
In 2021, Daily Mail Australia revealed that two of Australia’s biggest energy companies are owned by Chinese investors.
Energy Australia, which has 1.7 million customers, is owned by the China Light and Power Company after being sold off by the NSW government for $1.4 billion in 2011.
And Alinta Energy, which has 1.1 million customers, was sold by its private owners to Chow Tai Fook Enterprises for $4billion in 2017.
Although neither Energy Australia or Alinta distribute electricity, both are energy generators and retailers, owning crucial assets such as coal power stations, solar power fields and wind farms.
Alinta Energy’s assets include the Braemar Power Station in Queensland, the Wagerup Power Station in Western Australia and the Loy Yang B Power Station in Victoria.
EnergyAustralia’s infrastructure includes the Cathedral Rocks wind farm in South Australia, the Tallawarra gas station in NSW and the Yallourn coal station in Victoria.