That a government decides to entertain a moment of self-congratulation – simply because the lights might stay on – would be understandable, if the Country in question was North Korea or Cuba. However, the primary purpose of Malcolm Turnbull’s National Energy Guarantee is just that: allowing the Federal government to claim ‘mission accomplished’, if Australia avoids mass load shedding or blackout events this Summer, when the wind stops blowing and/or the sun goes down.

Quite reasonably, however, Australian households and businesses have formed a dogged expectation that, not only will power be delivered to them as and when they need it, but that they will also be able to afford the bill when it is presented by their retail provider.

For as long as the Large-Scale RET is in place, the NEG is unlikely to do anything to reduce power prices. At least in the short term. Which tends to…