Electricity Pool Pass-through and Demand Response Results for Q1 2016

In my previous articles on electricity pool pass-through and Demand Response (see articles for SA,QLDNSW and VIC) I presented historical pool price data over the last two years and compared that with indicative retail pricing to indicate the size of the cost saving opportunity.

In this article I present how a pool pass-through plus demand response strategy would have performed for different load profiles in the first quarter of 2016 for the mainland States. I […]

By | 2017-08-08T03:26:02+00:00 July 21st, 2017|Perspective|

Pool Pass-through and DSM Opportunity and Risks in New South Wales

Last month I wrote about what happened with pool prices over 2014-15 in South Australia and Queensland and the opportunity for savings with pool price pass-through strategy and DSM. This week we will have a look at the opportunity in NSW based on 2014-15 historical data.

Table 1 shows that NSW and VIC have been the two regions that have consistently had the benefit of relatively low and stable prices over the last, almost […]

By | 2017-08-08T03:31:45+00:00 March 17th, 2016|Perspective|

Pool Pass-through and Demand Response – Opportunity and Risks in Queensland

In early February I wrote this article about the electricity cost tsunami hitting SA businesses and what they could do to avoid the enormous price increases.  I followed this up this month with a review of what January and February would have delivered a spot-exposed business in SA, in terms of benefits.

I received a lot of feedback about these articles including questions as to what the minimum load threshold for this strategy to be effective is and would it […]

By | 2017-07-24T07:55:31+00:00 March 7th, 2016|Perspective|

The Levee Has Broken in SA – Save Yourselves By Jumping in the Pool

I have written previously about the coming energy cost tsunami in WattClarity http://www.wattclarity.com.au/2014/10/when-the-levee-breaks/ Well, the electricity levee in South Australia has finally broken after severe cracking and the resultant tsunami is now swamping business consumers coming out of contract in 2016. Prices have almost doubled from the already high level they had been previously and customers weren’t expecting it.

Figure 1 shows the Calendar Year 2016 base futures price history up until 31 October 2015. Businesses that […]

By | 2017-08-08T03:44:39+00:00 February 1st, 2016|Perspective|

What would the benefits have been, with spot exposure and Demand Response, in SA for January and February 2016

1 January 2016 was the start date for the new “high price” contracts for SA business consumers that renewed their retail supply contracts in the second half of 2015. Quite a few consumers decided not to lock in the high fixed retail pricing but instead adopt a pool price pass-through arrangement with an accommodating retailer.

So how would have those consumers fared over the first two months of the year?

Figure 1 – Time Series Plot […]

By | 2017-08-08T03:36:50+00:00 January 7th, 2016|Perspective|

When The Levee Breaks

Recently there have been many news stories and conference papers calling for the Government to save businesses from rising electricity and gas costs otherwise they will “go under”. In fact, all sectors of the Australian economy are starting to feel the effects of an energy cost tsunami coming towards them. The Eastern States are starting to see up a twofold increase in natural gas prices as a result of the burgeoning LNG export industry buying […]

By | 2017-08-08T03:34:11+00:00 October 8th, 2014|Perspective|