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Tony Wood

Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute

Tony has deep experience in the energy sector. He worked at Origin Energy for 11 years, and was an adviser to the first Garnaut climate change review. He is also program director of Clean Energy Projects at the Clinton Foundation.

Wholesale power prices are falling fast – but consumers will have to wait for relief. Here’s why

Feb 08, 2024 12:24 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

Wholesale power prices are falling steeply in Australia, following two years of surging prices after the Ukraine war triggered an energy crisis. New data shows annualised spot prices for power in Australias main grid fell...

Why Australia urgently needs a climate plan and a Net Zero National Cabinet Committee to implement it

Oct 11, 2023 03:36 am UTC| Insights & Views

Australia has a legislated target to reduce greenhouse emissions, a federal government with commitments to increase the share of renewable electricity and reduce power prices, and a globally important economic opportunity...

Carbon pricing: it's a proven way to reduce emissions but everyone's too scared to mention it

Feb 26, 2020 07:27 am UTC| Insights & Views

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese sought to claim the climate policy high ground last week with his commitment to a net-zero emissions target by 2050. But figures on Australias emissions from the Department of the...

The government can restrain electricity prices without threatening to break up power companies. Its adviser says so

Dec 16, 2018 13:17 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

Who wouldnt want cheaper power? And who wouldnt enjoy a bit of a stoush between the big bad generators and the government, trying to break them up on our behalf? Even if it was largely tangential to keeping prices...

State governments can transform Australia’s energy policy from major fail to reliable success

Nov 04, 2018 14:29 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy Law

This week were exploring the state of nine different policy areas across Australias states, as detailed in Grattan Institutes State Orange Book 2018. Read the other articles in the series here. Energy policy in...

Despite the charged atmosphere, Frydenberg and Finkel have the same goal for electricity

Oct 10, 2017 05:36 am UTC| Insights & Views

Globally in the past seven years, the cost of wind-powered generation has more than halved. Domestically, solar PV costs have dropped more than 50%. By 2020, costs of battery technologies are expected to fall 40-60% and...

Why the free market hasn't slashed power prices (and what to do about it)

Mar 14, 2017 07:13 am UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The energy sector was supposed to be the showcase for privatisation and market deregulation. Yet in 2017, this premise is being sorely tested no more so than in electricity retailing, where competition has failed to...

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Economy

RBA Set for Back-to-Back Rate Hikes, Westpac Forecasts

Westpac economists have revised their outlook for Australian monetary policy, now predicting the Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates by 25 basis points at both its March and May meetings. If realized, the...

Bank of Japan Expected to Hold Rates at 0.75% Before June Hike Amid Middle East War Uncertainty

A recent Reuters poll of 64 economists confirmed that the Bank of Japan will hold its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.75% during its March 19 meeting, with a likely increase to 1.00% by the end of June. These...

Asia FX Steady as Iran War Signals and U.S. Inflation Data Weigh on Sentiment

Most Asian currencies traded within narrow ranges on Wednesday as investors weighed conflicting signals surrounding the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran while bracing for critical U.S. inflation figures. Traders largely...

Asian Stock Markets Rise as Oil Prices Pull Back; U.S. CPI in Focus

Asian stock markets posted modest gains on Wednesday, buoyed by a retreat in oil prices after a turbulent start to the week driven by escalating Middle East tensions. Investors, however, remained cautious ahead of a...

Dollar Steadies as Traders Await Clarity on U.S.-Israel-Iran War

Global currency markets held their breath on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar maintained its position while traders waited for clearer signals about the trajectory of the U.S.-Israeli military conflict with Iran. The ongoing...

Politics

Shots Fired at U.S. Consulate in Toronto in Suspected National Security Incident

Canadian authorities have ramped up security measures around American and Israeli diplomatic buildings following a early-morning shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto. Prime Minister Mark Carney swiftly condemned the...

Israel-Iran War: Herzog Urges Patience as U.S. and Israeli Strikes Intensify

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has declined to provide a timeline for ending the ongoing conflict with Iran, emphasizing the need for a decisive and lasting outcome rather than a rushed resolution. Speaking to Germanys...

Trump Administration Spent $5.6 Billion in Munitions in Opening Days of Iran Strikes

The Trump administration disclosed to congressional committees that it expended $5.6 billion worth of munitions within the first 48 hours of its military strikes against Iran, according to a source with knowledge of the...

Ukraine Strikes Russian Missile Component Factory in Bryansk Using British Weapons

Ukrainian forces carried out a precision strike on a key Russian defense manufacturing plant in the Bryansk border region on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed. The targeted facility, known as the Kremniy El...

Boeing Secures $289 Million Smart Bomb Contract With Israel

Boeing has signed a $289 million defense contract with Israel to supply up to 5,000 air-launched smart bombs, according to a source who spoke with Reuters. The deal covers Boeings Small Diameter Bomb, a precision-guided...

Science

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Technology

Anduril Industries Acquires ExoAnalytic Solutions to Bolster Space Defense Capabilities

Anduril Industries has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ExoAnalytic Solutions, a national security firm specializing in space situational awareness and missile defense technology. The move signals Andurils...

Nintendo Stock Surges 10% as Pokémon Pokopia Breaks Sales Records

Nintendo shares climbed sharply on Wednesday, with Nintendo Co Ltd (TYO:7974) jumping 10% to 10,035 yen, landing among the top performers on the Nikkei 225 index, which itself gained 2.7%. The surge came on the back of...

Amazon Invests $535 Million in Brisbane Robotics Fulfillment Center

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) has announced a major A$750 million (approximately $535 million USD) investment to build a cutting-edge robotics-driven fulfillment center in Brisbane, Australia. Slated for completion in...

Microsoft Backs Anthropic in Legal Fight Against Pentagon's AI Blacklist

Microsoft has stepped into a high-profile legal battle between AI startup Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense, filing an amicus brief in federal court in San Francisco to support Anthropics request for a temporary...

U.S. Senate Greenlights AI Chatbots for Official Staff Use

The United States Senate has officially approved three major artificial intelligence chatbots for use by congressional staff, marking a significant step in the adoption of AI technology within the federal government....