If the pandemic and this year’s brutally cold winter weren’t enough, Australia’s in the midst of a gas crisis. As per The Conversation, this is because our coal-fired power stations aren’t producing enough energy, we’re running low on gas, we’re exporting more of our gas than usual, and said winter is making Aussies turn on their heaters. Wow, isn’t being an adult in the real world fun.
The Conversation believes that houses using gas aren’t in danger of receiving higher bills. However, that doesn’t mean that this crisis isn’t affecting everyday Aussies. Steve Bell, an employee of Australia’s largest plastics producer Qenos, told the ABC that his company was now sometimes buying gas for 400% more than it usually does. He stated, “If we can’t get, as a country, more competitive energy inputs into our industrial base, then a lot of jobs are at risk in the Australian manufacturing sector.”
Bell also disagreed with The Conversation’s belief that this gas crisis wasn’t going to impact everyday folks. He said, “At the kitchen table at home, people are also going to be dealing with bigger gas and electricity bills.” Bell additionally noted, “This is going to lead to inflation and all the stuff that everyone’s worried about in terms of the economy, because eventually there’s going to be a market reaction.”
But what can be done to reduce this crisis? Well, when the experts know, we’ll pass that info on. “Plant outages, as well as seasonal low levels of renewable energy, are contributing to the current tight energy situation, which will improve later in the winter into spring,” a spokesperson for the Australian Energy Council told The Sydney Morning Herald. “There is no easy fix.”
In the meantime, Australian Industry Group’s Tennant Reed suggested that our state governments and federal government should think about financially supporting households that will be drastically impacted by this gas crisis. Hopefully our leaders will implement some schemes like this soon.
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