Madness and misinformation in renewables-land: South Australia brags they didn’t have to “load shed”

Hope foreign readers are enjoying the spectacle of a first world nation destroying its competitive advantage with renewables. Hope that helps you avoid the same fate.

Praise the lord, states without coal don’t have to load-shed-industry (because they don’t have much left):

The South Australian Treasurer is bragging that SA didn’t have to shed any industry load on Friday, but the coal state of Victoria did. Pull the other one:

“In terms of supply we should be okay,” he [the SA Treasurer] said.

“Victoria I understand is about to load shed industry. So they’re not coping with the power supply.

“They are a coal-dependent state and they are having to take industry offline to support their households. In South Australia we’re not having to do that today.” — h/t A H

The Treasurer didn’t mention that SA shed the load already over the last two years by driving heavy manufacturers out of business, and out of the state. Let’s name some:

Gone from the SA power load: Mitsubishi, GMH, Plastics Granulating Services (Recyclers), Caroma (76 jobs) after 79 years in business, Penrice, Arnotts biscuits (120 jobs), Aldinga Turkeys (79), ACI Glass (60 following previous 50 jobs), Arrium (600), BHP (90), SANTOS (~200), Alinta Energy (Pt. Augusta power stations and Leigh Creek mines) (438), Unibooks (100), United Dairies (>100). Plus many more…

– The list thanks to yarpos and Graeme No.3

Nor did he mention that when peak times hit, SA couldn’t generate enough electricity for itself, even at $14,200/MWh and was drawing around 350MW from Victoria (which was mostly coal fired).

ABC rent-seekers do free PR for Labor-Green-renewables:

The ABC political reporter Nick Harmsen, above, swallowed this one-sided Labor party fantasy, and didn’t bother to interview anyone (skeptic or industry) who knows what rot the Treasurer was speaking. Harmsen probably votes Labor (or Green), has been trained not to “seek balance” lest the public vote out the innumerate, expensive vanity-signalers (who also pump up the ABC budget) at the up and coming SA election.

I’m sure no one ordered him to toss his journalistic standards, but if he ever showed any talent for asking real questions it would have been quashed in the tea rooms, or, was pre-quashed at university, where everyone is trained to think the exact same way.

In masterful form, Harmsen described the Lack of Reserve level 2 (LOR2) notice as meaning “there is a small buffer of surplus left”. Nice spin-winner-way to put an emergency notice that is there to let the market know the buffer is frighteningly small, and far below recommended.

At LOR2 level, things are so bad, the AEMO is throwing our money at the electrical grid to keep it from crashing.

If only he had the internet or a phone he could have used the actual AEMO terms. At least he wouldn’t look like a PR hack instead of a journalist.

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