The energy minister, Angus Taylor, will meet chief executives of Australia’s major power companies in Sydney next week as part of the Morrison government’s ongoing jawboning exercise to bring power prices down before voters go to the polls.
More than 30 chief executives have been invited to attend the talks next Wednesday, with the government intent on regulatory changes such as introducing a default market offer for energy prices for households and small businesses by next July.
With election timing front-of-mind, the government has demanded the companies lower the cost of their standard offers by 1 January in preparation for the new regime.
The government has been threatening the sector with a so-called “big stick” – new divestiture powers to break up energy companies engaged in price gouging – a position that has alarmed business, and is unlikely to be backed by Labor.
Ahead of next week’s talks, Taylor told Guardian Australia: “I have made and will continue to make my expectations of the energy retailers clear.
“We want a fairer deal for Australian families and small businesses. I will be emphasising that at the roundtable”.
Taylor has been consulting with stakeholders across the energy sector since taking the energy portfolio after Scott Morrison replaced Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister. Setting the bar high, Morrison has dubbed Taylor the minister for lowering power prices.
But the government will face resistance. Australia’s energy sector has been angry and frustrated at the government for failing to pursue the national energy guarantee – a policy intended to try and settle a decade of partisan warfare on climate and energy, and give the market investment certainty.
There are also doubts in the sector that the policies the government proposes will have the desired effects, and there have also been concerns that any agreements on power prices reached across various companies could fall foul of competition laws.
