How the Premier doesn't understand maths

As Queensland's 2013/14 electricity prices were announced, the Premier and Energy Minister tried to shift blame from themselves. The innocent targets were renewable energy, the price on carbon, and solar households - described (falsely) as the "major cause" of the price increase.

The official figures tell a completely different story.

(Click the graphic for a larger version)
Overall, prices are going up by $268/year (for a household of average use). Of that increase, the three things the government blames are barely changing.

Carbon Price - an increase of $9/year
Renewable Energy - actually $6/year cheaper than last year
Solar Power - an increase of $32/year

In total, all these positive measures account for a mere $35 of the $268 increase. But for some reason, the government is ignoring the other $233 and focusing on the small change.

Personally, I think it's great that Australia now has 1 million homes with solar panels. If that comes at a price of about 50 cents/week, i think that's easily bearable. Particularly when these panels have saved $520 million in extra electricity infrastructure.

Graphic source: QCA Fact sheet
(QCA is the body that determines power prices in Queensland)

PS. Others suggest that the government's motive is to distract from the much larger increase in network fees. (Network operators are owned by, and deliver profit to, the state government).