Background to Winter 2010 in the NEM

Inspired by the price spike experienced this evening, I have spent a little time to put together the background to winters in the NEM.

This will be useful in understanding the context of any other events that occur this winter, and are analysed on WattClarity.






Concerns of Energy Users

Here’s a growing collection of articles we’re putting together with respect to the concerns of energy users. These articles are informed by interaction with a wide range of large commercial and industrial (C&I) energy users in a variety of different…


Some context for the recent Basslink outage

I noted that the recent Basslink outage made the news today as a result of political point scoring in the Tasmanian parliament. As noted in the news report, the Basslink outage started on Saturday 17th April, and continued through until…




Demand Side Response in NSW on 4th February

On the 4th of February at around 11am energy users in NSW appear to have curtailed their load in response to high prices, resulting in a significant drop in demand. Simultaneously, network conditions and generator rebidding caused the NSW pool price to jump back and forth between extreme prices close to VOLL ($10,000/MWh) and the Market Floor Price (-$1,000/MWh).


Earth Hour 2010 – Impact on Australia’s Electricity Market

Now in its 4th year – Earth Hour has continued to spread across the globe, but participation in Australia appears to have decreased from previous years. In this article we compare reported electricity savings during the past 4 Earth Hour events, and look at the effects of Earth Hour on the NEM in 2010.



Queensland Energy Forum

As was mentioned in a previous post the topic which was most topical was the topic of increasing distribution network charges. The Queensland price increase proposals have not been approved yet, but based on the history of New South Wales, there is a widespread expectation that they will get approved.


Investigation of Negative Prices in Tasmania on 2nd & 3rd February

On the 2nd and 3rd of February this year prices spiked in South Australia and Victoria in the afternoon. Coinciding with these spikes, the Tasmania pool price went negative, close to the Market Floor Price (-$1000/MWh). In this article we take a look at the effects and possible causes of the negative prices.