{"id":34108,"date":"2013-05-23T17:17:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T07:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=34108"},"modified":"2025-09-24T14:22:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T04:22:31","slug":"ergon-told-to-buy-from-stanwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/05\/23\/ergon-told-to-buy-from-stanwell\/","title":{"rendered":"Ergon Told To Buy From Stanwell"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tarong<\/a>
Stanwell Corporation owns the Tarong and Tarong North Power stations in the South Burnett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 23, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ergon Energy will ease out of the energy marketplace and in future purchase energy “predominantly” from the government-owned corporations Stanwell and CS Energy.<\/p>\n

Treasurer Tim Nicholls announced yesterday the State Government would implement “new wholesale electricity supply arrangements” for Ergon in the wake of a review.<\/p>\n

Commentators noted after the announcement the decision to shift Ergon into contracts with Stanwell and CS Energy could make the government-owned power generators a more attractive proposition for potential purchasers.<\/p>\n

Mr Nicholls said the new wholesale energy procurement arrangements would be implemented for a term of up to four years from 2013-14, and would “supplement rather than replace” existing supply arrangements.<\/p>\n

Energy purchases would begin on January 1, 2014 “at modest levels” with volumes increasing over the term of the arrangement, Mr Nicholls said.<\/p>\n

The Treasurer said Ergon received a significant Community Service Obligation payment from the government to enable it to supply electricity to regional areas at a reasonable price.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2012-13, the cost of the CSO is budgeted to be $620 million and, in 2014-15, this cost is estimated to increase to more than $700 million,\u201d Mr Nicholls said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a significant cost to the State and, to help offset this, the government is committed to improving the efficiency of its energy portfolio wherever possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a short- to medium-term strategy to ensure that electricity is supplied to the Ergon region in the most cost effective manner by utilising the government-owned generation portfolio,\u201d Mr Nicholls said.<\/p>\n

The longer-term objectives for the government\u2019s energy portfolio are being considered by the Government\u2019s Inter-Departmental Committee on Electricity Sector Reform and as part of the 30-Year Electricity Strategy.<\/p>\n

This includes assessing the feasibility of other structural options for the government-owned energy portfolio, such as creating a vertically-integrated energy utility similar to other competitive market participants.<\/p>\n

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