Work has begun on the ‘Tasmania First’ energy policy, which includes plans to ‘de-link’ the state from mainland power prices.
Tasmanian Energy Minister Guy Barnett said the state government had begun working on two key aspects of his energy policy this week.
“Firstly, the government has begun the process of developing legislation to cap power prices until Tasmania breaks from mainland electricity contract pricing under the National Electricity Market (NEM),” he said.
“For too long, Tasmania’s power prices have been linked to power prices on the mainland.
“Under the legislation we are developing, power prices will be capped until July 2021.
“The government is committed to break away from mainland electricity contract pricing by July 2021 and ensuring that Tasmanians pay Tasmanian prices for our energy.”
Mr Barnett said by de-linking from the price-setting mechanism under the NEM, Tasmanians would save up to $200 per year.
“Our commitment is for Tasmania to have the lowest regulated power prices in the nation, and breaking away from mainland electricity pricing will help us deliver that,” he said.
The legislation will be tabled in Parliament during the Autumn Sitting.
The second election commitment the state government has commenced work on is relocating Momentum Energy jobs to Tasmania.
Momentum Energy’s call centre operations are currently based in Melbourne despite being owned by Hydro Tasmania since 2009.
“Under our commitment, Hydro will identify a site for Momentum’s call centre operations in Tasmania within the next 12 months and I expect them to deliver on that,” Mr Barnett said.
“We are committed to creating jobs and improving the lives of all Tasmanians, and this is great news that will help even more Tasmanians join the workforce.”
