esaa publishes power supply reliability discussion paper

The Energy Supply Association of Australia (esaa) has published a discussion paper entitled ‘How reliable do we want our power supplies to be?’

The paper offers a timely discussion about electricity prices and quality, asking whether we have the price/quality equation right. “Should we accept the risk of more blackouts if it means cheaper power bills?” the paper asks.

Comparing electricity reliability with that of other Australian services, the paper shows that electricity supply is about three times more reliable than home phones and 37 times more reliable than payphones.

“It’s easy to say that standards could be reduced to get on top of rising prices,” the paper concludes, “but trading off reliability for a few dollars a year might seem attractive until we pay for such savings with more blackouts and an erratic supply.”

To read the paper in full, click here.