MEDIA STATEMENT: A Fresh Start for Queensland: Electricity Maintenance Guarantee to power Queensland’s future 

Published Thursday, 28 November, 2024 at 10:38 AM

Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Minister for Home Ownership
The Honourable David Janetzki

A Fresh Start for Queensland: Electricity Maintenance Guarantee to power Queensland’s future 

  • Crisafulli Government flicks the switch on affordable, reliable and sustainable power with Electricity Maintenance Guarantee. 

  • The $1.4 billion Guarantee will boost energy reliability, putting downward pressure on energy costs for Queenslanders. 

  • Government-owned energy companies to have strict KPIs on new investment & performance under new accountability framework. 

  • GOC executive bonuses to be tied to reaching KPIs.  

The Crisafulli Government has taken the first step to delivering affordable, reliable and sustainable energy to power Queensland’s future, implementing an Electricity Maintenance Guarantee.  

A five-year base $1.4 billion Electricity Maintenance Guarantee will lock in investment for maintenance of power plants and create a new framework around investment, performance, and accountability for Queensland power assets. 

Executives at Queensland’s government-owned power companies will lose bonuses if they fail to comply with tough key performance indicators (KPIs) on maintenance, personal safety, process safety, and plant performance. 

Under the Guarantee, Stanwell, CS Energy, and CleanCo will be provided with investment certainty to deliver on their five-year maintenance programs, driving the effective maintenance, safety, and long-term reliability of Queensland’s power generators.  

Ultimately, the Electricity Maintenance Guarantee will give Queensland’s power grid more reliable energy generation and put downward pressure on power prices, by helping prevent disasters like the Callide explosion. 

The Callide C failure – which left unit C4 offline for more than 1100 days - caused widespread blackouts and contributed to Queensland’s 19.9 per cent electricity price hike last year, an increase three times the national average. 

The investigative Brady report into the incident condemned the organisation’s “failure to value and implement effective process safety practices”. 

Executives at Queensland’s three major energy companies pocketed over $2 million in performance bonuses over the past five years, in spite of the Callide failure.  

This included bonuses to CS Energy senior executives in the aftermath of the 2021 Callide C power plant explosion and cooling tower incidents in subsequent years. 

A 2020 shareholding ministers’ mandate prioritised cost savings and constrained the government-owned corporations' investment strategies. 

New shareholding ministers are writing to the companies to implement the Guarantee as a new investment, performance and accountability framework.  

Treasurer David Janetzki said the Electricity Maintenance Guarantee was part of a Fresh Start for Queensland’s Future and delivered on a key commitment in the 100 Day Plan.  

“Under the Crisafulli Government’s Electricity Maintenance Guarantee, Government Owned Corporations will prioritise maintenance expenditure and have no excuse not to maintain assets,” Treasurer Janetzki said.  

“Despite Labor’s rivers of gold in revenue, they failed to allocate funds for adequate maintenance at Queensland power plants, leading to the Callide explosion.

“We’re being clear to power executives: no KPI delivery, no bonus. 

“Inadequate maintenance was a key concern for years leading up to the Callide Catastrophe and the resulting power-price hikes cost Queenslanders every time they switched the lights on.  

“Our Electricity Maintenance Guarantee will ensure Queensland’s energy assets are never left in a state of neglect again. 

“The Electricity Maintenance Guarantee will make power executives accountable for performance, including clear KPIs for maintenance, personal safety, process safety, and plant performance. 

“The Crisafulli Government is focused on delivering affordable and reliable power for Queenslanders to drive-down cost pressures.” 

ENDS 

MEDIA CONTACT: Harry Spicer 0452 118 197