Australians deserve affordable and reliable power. This has been our focus as a government and this is what we have delivered, with prices at their lowest in eight years. We want to see this continue.

This is why Origin Energy’s announcement it will close Eraring Power Station seven years early, in mid-2025, is a bitter disappointment as it puts low prices and reliability at risk, impacting over 400 workers and local communities.

Eraring’s contribution to the NSW electricity market, and indeed the whole National Electricity Market, is huge.

It is the nation’s largest coal-fired generator, providing more than one-fifth of total NSW generation last year. The maths is straightforward. Where there is a shortfall in supply, prices go up. We saw it in Victoria when the Hazelwood Power Station shut down, causing prices to skyrocket by 85 per cent.

We are also seeing it in Europe right now, where families are making impossible choices between eating and heating due to extraordinary rises in energy costs.

Our modelling of the exit of the Liddell Power Station showed we would see a 30 per cent increase in prices in two years if not adequately replaced.

This is why, as a government, we took action when the private sector didn’t, stepping in with investment to build a new gas generator, the Hunter Power Project, at Kurri Kurri in the Hunter Valley. Together with our support of the Tallawarra B gas generator, this fills the gap created by Liddell.

Eraring’s 2880-megawatt, 24/7 capacity leaves another, larger gap in the market that must be filled.

Renewables supported by a battery that lasts for only a few hours are simply not enough. Batteries can make a contribution but fall far short of what is needed to safeguard around-the-clock affordable, reliable power for families and businesses.

The government has made it clear to Origin we expect it to be part of the solution to close the gap it is leaving in the market.

Energy companies such as Origin provide an essential service to Australians and Australian businesses, and with that comes some corporate social responsibility.

Many businesses talk about corporate social responsibility a lot these days.

Part of that is delivering customers a fair deal.

And that means not leaving a big gap in the market that will drive prices up.

To ensure Australians have affordability and reliability with growing renewables, we need to have an unbroken pipeline of on-demand, reliable power.

We are driving market reforms to reward reliable, dispatchable capacity and we are relentlessly focused on delivering new capacity.

In addition to the Kurri Kurri and Tallawarra B generators, we are investing in the landmark Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project and supporting the Port Kembla gas generator to reach final investment decision.

We have committed more than $500m to support new investment in our poles and wires to deliver new generation when and where it is needed.

We have also established the $1bn Grid Reliability Fund, and the Underwriting New Generation Investments program.

These programs are critical for delivering solutions to the risks on the horizon to affordability and reliability, such as the early closure of Eraring.

Over the past two years, power costs have dropped 8 per cent for households and 10 per cent for small businesses (on average).

Our actions have shown we won’t leave the hip pockets of families and the viability of businesses to chance.

We will do what is necessary to keep the lights on and keep prices low for Australians.