Power bills among the highest in the developed world — despite the best renewable resources on earth. MMP legislates a 15 cents per kilowatt-hour maximum for households and small business by end of first term. 6c/kWh industrial at SBC maturity. Coal closes as a market outcome — not as government policy.
Australia has more sun and more wind than almost any country on earth and one of the highest household electricity bills in the developed world. The contradiction is structural. Transmission and retail margins extract most of the price the household pays. The wholesale cost of new renewable generation is already lower than the cost of running existing coal. The household never sees the saving.
Australians pay more for Australian gas than Japanese LNG buyers do. The east coast gas premium destroys manufacturing competitiveness and loads $15–25 billion per year onto Australian households and businesses. No domestic gas reservation. Export contracts written before domestic supply secured. The result: the country that exports the most gas in the world cannot afford to use its own.
The transmission network was designed for centralised coal generation and radial distribution. Renewables are distributed and intermittent. The grid does not match the technology. Connection delays for new renewable projects exceed five years. The bottleneck is not generation; it is grid infrastructure that should have been built a decade ago.
MMP legislates electricity at 15 cents per kilowatt-hour by the end of the first term for every Australian household, business, and industrial operation. The natural consequence of building 1,000 GW of renewable generation at $20–30 per MWh and removing the transmission and retail margins that currently inflate the final price. At 15c/kWh, every electric vehicle pays for itself against a diesel alternative in under five years.
At SBC corridor rates of 3–6c/kWh, EV payback is under three years and industrial competitiveness is restored. The legislated price is the floor for households. The corridor price is what efficiency looks like for industry. Both are the consequence of the same underlying build: 1,000 GW of renewable generation at $20–30/MWh, deployed along the corridors where the sun is strongest.
Transmission and retail margins capped at levels that reflect actual operating cost, not extraction. The Australian Energy Regulator restructured with a single mandate: enforce the legislated price. Distribution network charges that have grown unchecked for two decades brought back into proportion. The gap between wholesale cost and household bill closes.
A minimum proportion of all new gas production reserved for Australian consumers and industry before export contracts are written. Australians stop paying more for Australian gas than Japanese buyers. Wholesale gas under $10/GJ nationally via domestic reservation. The east coast gas premium ends — and with it the manufacturing exodus.
Coal closes not as a government decree but as a market outcome — the inevitable consequence of cheaper renewable generation. Transition support for coal communities is real and substantial: SBC industrial precincts located in coal-region towns; retraining programmes; wages-guarantee bridge for mine workers transitioning to corridor jobs. The transition is paid for; the workers are not asked to bear the cost of the energy transition.
Staged build: Phase 1 → Phase 2 → Phase 3 → Phase 4. Solar along the corridors where peak sun hours are highest. Wind in the corridor sections where wind resources are strongest. Pumped hydro at the Alice Hub at 770m head — 30 TWh of storage at full build. Battery storage at every corridor town. The most ambitious renewable build in history, financed by SBC revenue and the REL.
HVDC spine running the length of the SBC corridor — moves power efficiently across the continent. Smart grid technology in every corridor town. Battery storage and demand response built in. The grid stops being the bottleneck and starts being a competitive advantage.
Every Australian household able to install solar and battery on a 10-year zero-interest Commonwealth loan repaid from the savings on the household bill. Net cost to the household: zero. The household becomes a participant in the energy system rather than a passive consumer billed for someone else's margins.
| Current — Worst Bills, Best Resources | MMP — Legislated Floor, Corridor Efficiency |
|---|---|
| Among highest power bills in developed world. | 15c/kWh legislated maximum for households and small business — end of first term. |
| Industrial power 15c+/kWh — manufacturing uncompetitive. | 6c/kWh industrial at SBC corridor maturity — cheapest in the world. |
| Transmission and retail margins extract most of household bill. | Margins capped at actual operating cost. AER restructured to enforce. |
| East coast gas premium: Australians pay more than Japan. | Domestic gas reservation. Wholesale gas under $10/GJ nationally. |
| Renewable connection delays exceed 5 years. | HVDC corridor spine + grid modernisation. Bottleneck removed. |
| Coal phase-out chaotic. Workers abandoned. | Coal closes as a market outcome. SBC industrial precincts in coal regions. Transition paid for. |
| Household solar uneconomic for renters and lower-income households. | 10-year zero-interest Commonwealth loan. Net household cost: zero. |
No memos pinned to this policy yet. When an MMP memo on this topic is published, it will appear here with a short summary. The full memo index is at moralmajority.com.au/memos.html.