SOLAR LEADING THE WAY

Each week new records are broken across the energy market. Be it historic record low demands, reducing levels of thermal plant availability or the increased availability from renewables.

Last week saw solar reach more than 50% of Australia’s demand. This came as record generation levels came from both rooftop PV and large-scale solar sectors.

Ironically this record occurred on Sunday while the National Party room was meeting to discuss their stance on net zero emissions. As the Nationals push to lift the profile of the coal industry and power the country from coal fired power stations, solar generation reached 51.8% of the NEMs demand.

While regions like South Australia have passed the 50% solar milestone during the weekend it was the first time the NEM reached more than 50%. As expected, solar provided most of the electricity between 11:00 and 13:00, peaking at 11:55.

The 50% hurdle could have been higher as negative prices in South Australia economically constrained some large-scale solar plants. On the previous day, the record would have been broken if not for Queensland economically constraining off 1,800MW of large scale solar due to negative prices.

As mentioned above the NEM is also experiencing low operational demands and in line with the high rooftop PV generation, the demand dropped to a record low across the NEM of 12,936MW on Sunday as solar reached over 50% generation. As rooftop PV is not economically constrained, it accounted for 38% of the underlying demand.

As solar generation increased, it displaced coal fired generation with black coal generation throughout Queensland and NSW reaching historic lows of 6,105MW.

These statistics were surely discussed in the Nationals party room over the weekend and along with AEMOs forecasts showing the NEM can reach 100% renewables by 2025 as their base case scenario in modelling such as the ISP and the ESOO, the question about the role of renewable and coal in the market must have been discussed.

During the Spring months, skies are clearer and air temperatures are conducive to low air conditioning and heating loads, we could realistically see a situation where rooftop PV could cover demand. Of course, this will cause issues for AEMO who are required to keep various synchronous units online for system security however recent changes have allowed AEMO to employ systems to switch off solar in the event of a grid event to maintain grid security.

Written by Alex Driscoll Senior Manager Markets, Trading & Advisory

Things to check when procuring a new energy contract

Brokers and Consultants play valuable roles in assisting you to go to market to review your energy costs and your needs. They can help you to efficiently review several energy retailer offers.

This Guidance Note has been created by the National Customer Code for Energy Brokers, Consultants and Retailers. It aims to help you navigate your energy procurement to ensure that you are making informed decisions about costs, commissions and fee structures, including any ongoing fees and terms. You’ll also find some practical questions to ask your broker or consultant if you need more information.

https://www.theenergycharter.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Energy-Charter-Broker-Procurement-Checklist-Final-Oct-2021.pdf

NATIONAL CUSTOMER CODE – PROCUREMENT CHECKLIST

Edge2020 & Edge Utilities are proud members of the National Customer Code.

If you are considering using an energy broker or consultant to support you in your energy needs, please read this first – National Customer Code-Procurement-Checklist

This guide has been created by the National Customer Code for Energy Brokers, Consultants and Retailers to assist you navigate key terms and conditions in your energy procurement contracts to ensure that you are making informed decisions about costs, commissions and fee structures, including any ongoing fees and terms.

It also includes practical questions to ask your broker or consultant if you need more information.

If you have any questions about your energy needs, please call us on 1800 334 336 or email save@edgeutilities.com.au

 

3 MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT ENERGY BROKERS

Securing the best Energy Deal for your business should be one of the easiest things to do in a business, right? Wrong! Without the right guidance and information, it can also be one of the costliest.

A simple way to reduce the stress and increase your chances of locking yourself into the wrong deal is to reach out and sort the help of an Energy Broker. Not only will they save you time and energy, but they’ll also get you the best deal for your business.

Despite this, many people are still under the misconception that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We’ve picked the top three misconceptions about Energy Brokers.

  1. Are Energy Brokers expensive?

Simple answer, nope.

This is probably the biggest mix-up out there. Energy Brokers help you at their own expense and are free for businesses like yours.

Most Energy brokers are paid a commission. At Edge Utilities, we earn between 1% – 2.5% on the energy component, paid by your chosen retailer, should you wish to contract with them.

If you decide not to contract, we don’t get paid. No deal. No pay!

  1. Do Energy Brokers act in your best interests?

You may be wondering… if an Energy Broker is free and gets commission, won’t they just go with their favourite retailers for the highest commission?

It’s easy to see how this could happen… and yes, it does happen! If a retailer is offering more commission, it seems obvious which deal, they would recommend, right?

This isn’t the case at Edge Utilities. Our biggest interest is to help a business owner choose a contract that’s right for them. What would you think would happen if the business is unhappy with their bill when they receive it?

They’ll go elsewhere and let other business around them know. Consequently, so does the commission. So, keeping everyone happy for as long as possible is the goal for Edge Utilities.

  1. Wouldn’t a retailer prefer working with the individual over a broker?

Not necessarily! A broker will assess your contracts and find a retailer with T&Cs to match your business needs. We do all the leg work and will also ensure all documents are filled out correctly, so you can do what you do best.

Another thing to remember is that most retailers love Energy Brokers. Paying a broker’s commission to bring in customers is a lot cheaper than paying employees to develop business.

Edge Utilities works for you

We will offer expertise, access to many options, and the ability to negotiate the best rates. Our job is to ensure your timing to enter a retail contract considers the underlying markets that ultimately drive your costs (which we analyse daily), to ensure you don’t end up on penalty rates, and to go to market to get you the best deal on the day we both decide to do that.

And did you know, we can also invoice?

Now is a good time to talk about your current agreements and if you have other sites that need this attention, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Call us on 1800 334 336 or email save@edgeutilties.com.au

EDGE NEWS – JULY NEWSLETTER

In this issue we look at the following;

  • We recently contracted 3 of Brisbane’s Largest Towers. How do we do it?
  • What is causing the increase in the spot &futures market prices?
  • What is aggregated electricity procurement and should you do it?

National NAIDOC week was celebrated during July and Edge acknowledge the Turral and Yuggera peoples as the traditional owners of the land on which our offices sit. We pay respect to elders past, present and future.

EDGE IS HELPING BUSINESSES TO STEP UP THEIR CLIMATE EFFORTS

The world is changing……………………. you only have to look out the window, to see the impacts of this. No matter how you think it is occurring or who you think is contributing to it, climate change is real.

Over the last decade it has been more evident that Australia is being impacted by climate change. We have seen higher temperatures, worsening droughts and recently parts of Australia have been impacted by the worst floods in a decade. Australia has always been affected by extremes in the weather, but science shows the impact and regularity is increasing.

At Edge part of our role is to advise our clients on how to best manage risk. This is not always financial risk as most people would assume but, indirectly climate risk. This is the biggest risk many companies are facing, and this directly relates to financial risk.

Investors are starting to push companies to align their operations towards emission reduction targets and the use of sustainable practices. Many companies across Australia are pledging to reduce emissions to ‘‘net zero’’ by 2050 however, many do not have a clear strategy to reach this target.

Edge has and is currently assisting our clients with the development of low carbon business models.

When investors are weighing up the performance of a company, they are now allocating more weighting to how the company manages it sustainability.

Edge works with a range of clients including, some of the largest mining and utility companies worldwide and over the last couple of years we have developed strategies to decarbonise their businesses.

The procurement of renewable energy is just one way in which Edge is assisting our clients. We have developed sophisticated mechanisms to provide the client with access to renewable energy, environmental certificates and emission offsets while managing the price risk and uncertainty in the energy market.

POWER BILL ON THE WAY UP

With Australia moving back to more lock downs it is interesting to see how COVID is impacting individual households.

Household electricity use has increased by 10% as people have been working from home and as a result household power bills increased by 7%. The bill increases are related to the increased consumption even though the underlying wholesale electricity prices have dropped by 4.8%.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reported that even though household consumption increased it was at the demise of small business electricity use which decreased by 17%.

With wholesale prices dropping they are putting pressure on the profits of the retailers but despite the pressures the ACCC expects household bills to drop further as the wholesale prices flow through to the end user.

Low spot prices following COVID and the penetration of renewable energy triggered profit warnings from Origin Energy, AGL Energy, Stanwell, and Energy Australia.

As safeguards end on 1 July, the ACCC has warned retailers they are obliged to pass on the lower wholesale prices. This is despite the increases experienced in May and June when spot prices increased following the failure at Callide power station.

The “big stick” legislation that started in June 2020, obligates retailers to adjust their prices in line with their costs of securing electricity.

The ACCC is currently investigating several electricity retailers’ prices to see if recent wholesale price reductions were being passed on to consumers.

Edge News – June 2021 Newsletter

As we head into a new financial year consider the usual activities at this time of year. Consumers on financial year contracts would (should!) be recontracted by now, leading to a temporary decrease in demand for forward contracts from a consumer perspective. Wholesale contract traders will be squaring away positions for financial year end, so we should expect some profit taking from those in long positions and vice versa!

One thing we all know with contracting energy… timing is everything!  Edge2020 clients provide tips on how to contract better.

We’ve been working with some amazing clients these past couple of months, and we highlight one in particular who was an absolute pleasure to work with (and who we helped save nearly half a million dollars).

We also review Callide – what happened and what now?

Edge News – May 2021 Newsletter

Electricity prices are market driven, and markets respond to price drivers. Too high, respond with action that drives them lower. Too low, respond with action that makes them higher. Sounds simple yes? Add in policy uncertainty, ongoing network capacity issues, and a genuine sustainability movement, and it’s not that simple at all.

We look at Q1 2021 electricity prices. Why they did what they did. What the real drivers are. Where they can go in 2021, and beyond.

We also look at Sustainability. In as little as 12 months it feels like we’ve seen Sustainability go from a compulsory annual report to a real movement with real action and actual commitments.

ORIGIN DOWNGRADING

With the downturn in the Electricity market, most companies are finding it hard to make a profit. As a sign of things to come Origin Energy has downgraded its guidance for full-year profit.

Previously, Origin had highlighted it was partially insulated from the impacts of the Electricity market downturn. However, following a ruling on a gas dispute with Beach Energy, this has resulted in Origins gas supply costs increasing by up to $40M this financial year, then increasing to $80M the following year. The dispute occurred due to Origin and Beach Energy not being able to agree on pricing under the contract which is reviewed every three years.

Origin has previously amended its guidance for gross earnings to $1.14B, with earnings expected to be $1.02B. As a result of this news, shares in Origin dropped 4.5%.

Beach Energy is a major supplier of gas to Origin.  The gas pricing determination will affect the cost of gas and impact the profits from Origins network of end users and power generation assets.

Origin’s coal fleet profits have been impacted as wholesale prices fall. Origin was hoping gas would be the solution to it’s drop in profits. Chief Executive Frank Calabria said the company is “disappointed in this decision which we believe is wrong and entirely inconsistent with our prior experience in the gas market”. “This will result in a gas price that does not reflect market prices, and it is therefore a very poor outcome.”

Origin will still benefit from the performance of Australia Pacific LNG which Origin owns 37.5% of and is expected to return cash distribution of $650M.

Origin guidance of “challenging” conditions in energy markets remain unchanged and expect returns not to improve in its electricity and gas businesses until the 2022 financial year