As long as NSW has priority for the coal based power we generate I don't care about the sillyness of SA and Vic. The subs will move here; and a whole lot of other makers.

Oh, and also their young, effective people with the dolts remaining behind.

The NEM was never the world's most efficient energy market. SA's power privatisation exposed this fact many years ago, and the problem was only ever partially addressed.

This article's nothing more than an anti-renewables tirade, long on rhetoric and short on facts. For example:
"In its final analysis of the events leading to the September 2016 South Australian black-out, AEMO re-affirms that the failure of the wind generators was the cause."
The report, which is at http://www.aemo.com.au/-/media/Files/Electricity/NEM/Market_Notices_and_Events/Power_System_Incident_Reports/2017/Integrated-Final-Report-SA-Black-System-28-September-2016.pdf shows that the failure of wind generators was NOT the primary cause (it is likely tornadoes were). The shutdown of some wind generators in response to multiple transmission line faults was merely one in a long chain of events. Its greatest significance is that the settings have already been changed, so the same sequence of events would not lead to a statewide blackout today.

It's highly misleading to claim battery storage would provide a buffer of just 4 seconds, as providing the entire state's power is not what the batteries are designed to do, and there are no circumstances at all under which they would do this. Nor would SA ever want to get 100% of our electricity generation from wind with battery backup: even within the limits of existing technology there are much more efficient ways to reach 100% renewables.

SA was right to refuse the Northern power station's offer to remain open, which appears to mainly be aimed at dodging cleanup costs. SA has plenty of gas (even though having to pay international prices for it has pushed up our electricity costs). And with Hazelwood closed, the new power station is likely to be profitable. But the continued refusal to go with solar thermal is of concern.

And AIUI SA's intention to override the AEMO allocation is to ensure the power we generate meets our needs before we export any to Victoria.

And the statement that "The cause of retail margin increase are solidly down to government regulations which involve costs that must be passed on" is dubious even before "disallowance of exit fees" is listed as one of those "costs"!

Here in front of our eyes, are the most " disconnected politicalls ", attempting in their brand of abductive logic, to keep the lights burning throughout their nation, ( not ours anymore)!
Guessing, guessing, guessing the future for this subsumed mad nation, that once was proudly Australia.

Aiden - care to tell me where there is a solar thermal working in Australia? There was one in Bridgewater Victoria but that went broke and now calls itself a test bed. It went broke after the taxpayer dollars stopped. I will happily visit one that is working. They have big media spreads and then just when they should actually produce something POOF! it all stops and the managers have vanished.
If it works then lets get the greens to use their super to build one but with no public money. That can never happen as all this renewable rubbish has wasted public money and beggared the taxpayers. You people should be ashamed of yourselves.
Lets see the tide change with no subsidies and all you green drones exposed for the parasitic frauds you are!

It is a pity that the author and commentators do not explain how wholesale power is costed. Subsidies to solar and wind are separate. The Snowy is a special case.

The controlling authority estimates demand in five minute and half hour periods and generators are brought on line to meet demand. Each supplier receives the price per MWH of the most expensive supplier in each particular time period.

Because coal fired stations are low cost those stations are always on line to the extent they are available. Steam driven generators also have high inertia rotating masses so they help maintain a steady frequency.

Gas turbines can be run up to speed reasonably quickly but gas is expensive so these units also carry heavy standby costs as they may be on line only during periods of high demand when insufficient hydro power is available to meet the heavy demand.

The smoke and mirrors of a patent ideologue, who thinks home generated energy supply is a market!?

Before we let these carpet baggers loose, we had a public supply paradigm where virtually every state took care of their own and at taxpayer expense! A few right wing idealogues with a highly flawed ideological imperative, claim private enterprise could do it better!

And as we see in the failed outcome in S.A., that went well didn't it?

It's long past time we just stopped listening to these purveyors of the Emperor's new clothes and returned to a system that really did give us and all our industries the world's cheapest power?

And in so doing assured us of both jobs and growth!

As a de-privatised system and free of the demands of debt laden, profit repatriating, tax avoiding foreigner speculators and their obscene salary demands, we can return to the land of sanity and decisions based on empirical evidence rather than highly flawed ideological imperatives? And that evidence tells us that thorium is cheaper, safer and cleaner and if rolled out as local power, able to cut power prices by more than half and half again if not connected to a energy wasting gold plated grid!

John Howard would have even sold off the snowy, if he hadn't been prevented!

The national grid is a great white elephant that has all but assured the mass exodus of the manufacturing sector!

We need to listen to sane rationalists talking turkey about our energy supply, not some apparent carpet bagger's idea of a market and a captive market monopoly at that!?

The very basis of capitalism is competition, none of which is apparent in the covert market collusion, which is our current energy market?
Alan B.