Article by John Rolfe and Jessica Wang, courtesy of The Daily Telegraph.
02.12.2025
EXCLUSIVE: The full scale of federal Labor’s epic fail on power prices can be revealed for the first time, with average households in vast parts of the state now paying $1200 a year more than Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen promised.
In a further blow to the ALP’s credibility, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned NSW could face costly intervention to avoid blackouts if the state’s largest coal-fired power station Eraring shuts before expensive grid-stabilising equipment is added to the grid.
On Monday, a different power authority, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), published a retail markets report showing the median electricity cost was about $2850 in the year through June across the Essential distribution zone covering most rural and regional areas of NSW.
Based on the now-infamous power price-cut promise Mr Albanese and Mr Bowen made before the 2022 election, that bill should have been about $1650.
In December 2021, five months before winning office, the pair released Labor’s “Powering Australia” policy, supported by modelling which said a Labor government would “cut power bills for families and businesses by $275 a year for homes by 2025, compared to today.”
The AER’s data shows that at the time the claim was made, the average annual cost in Essential’s patch was $1930.
In the Endeavour distribution patch, which covers western Sydney, the difference between the promise and reality is more than $1000. In the Ausgrid area, which includes the eastern half of Sydney, the discrepancy is nearly $1000.
And NSW is not an outlier. The promise to cut prices has not been kept anywhere in the National Energy Market.
These estimates do not include the impact of $300 taxpayer-funded rebate from Canberra during 2024-25.
Federal opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan said “these are, once again, very disturbing figures.
“Electricity bills continue to go up and there seems there is no end to the rise,” Mr Tehan said.
“The question people want Chris Bowen to answer is, when will prices start going down like you promised, or is true that you have been lying to the Australian people about what is happening and will continue to happen to electricity bills?”
Mr Bowen said “it’s clear that bills are too high. We acted in the short term with energy bill rebates and are working to rebuild a fairer grid that is less reliant on ageing, expensive coal.
“But this progress can all be undone if the Coalition get their way to drive up bills and pollution,” the Climate Change and Energy Minister said.
Meanwhile NSW Premier Chris Minns has said he is open to extending the life of the Eraring beyond 2027 after AEMO warned closing it before then could result in blackouts.
The Lake Macquarie plant supplies about a quarter of the state’s energy needs and is currently slated to shut by August 2027.
In 2024 the NSW Labor government minted a deal with station owner Origin to ensure operation beyond an original closure date of August 2025.
While Mr Minns said it was Origin’s “preference whether they want to go beyond” 2027, however he wasn’t against an extension.
“We’ll leave it up to them to make that call. We’re not, we’re not necessarily opposed to a conversation with them about it,” he said on Monday.
However he said he was focused on the renewables transition, which has reduced NSW’s reliance on coal from making up to 90 per cent of the grid to about 60 per cent.
AEMO CEO Daniel Westerman warned on Monday that NSW would be vulnerable to blackouts as early as 2027 due to a lack of infrastructure needed to guarantee a secure energy grid.
This is due to concerns over the lack of synchronous condensers which are needed to absorb excess power, which are not set to be installed until after 2027.
Mr Westerman said that while AEMO may be forced to intervene, it could “come at a considerable cost to consumers”.
“AEMO may be forced to intervene to maintain system security at times when the market does not provide sufficient system security,” he told the ABC.
“These interventions may include contracts, directions and, if required, more severe measures.”
The federal opposition’s Mr Tehan said “Chris Bowen has completely ended up with egg on his face. His transition is failing.
“He’s wanted coal out of the system as quickly as he possibly could get it, and now we find out that we actually are going to need coal for longer,” Mr Tehan told Sky News.
Mr Bowen did not respond to requests for comment on the price pledge failure. On AEMO’s warning, he had earlier told Sky that “after a decade of delay, dysfunction and denial the government is now getting on with rebuilding Australia’s energy grid with the lowest cost form of energy — renewable energy.”