Notorious RBD Vs (Too Much) RAB

Let Me Sum Up

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This week your intrepid hosts are joined by newly minted Grattan Institute Energy & Climate Program *Director* Alison Reeve to unpack the Productivity Commission’s climate musings and a spicy new paper from Dr. Ron Ben-David that dares to ask: that gas network RAB is kind of annoying... what if we just sold it?

But first... are the folks at the PC drinking the Abundance KoolAid? Investing in Cheaper, Cleaner Energy and the Net Zero Transformation is one of five pillars the PC is working on to inform the Treasurer’s upcoming and very exclusive ROUNDTABLE lock-up/love-in on productivity. What’s on the menu? Reducing the cost of meeting carbon targets, speeding up energy infrastructure approvals and unlocking private investment in adaptation. Frankie smells a Cabinet book club. Alison wants to know why we’re not talking about construction productivity across sectors. All of us want more than vibes and vertical silos but agreed giving adaptation some love is overdue!

Our main course

If the Gas RAB is a 500 lb gorilla and is in desperate need of slimming down, who’s paying the bills for Ozempic? In his paper ‘The 500 lb gorilla of the gas transition, or: Confronting the regulatory asset base (RAB) problem’, Ron Ben-David proposes a bold fix for the gas death spiral with his characteristic panache: Revalue the gas RAB every five years, carve off the stranded value into a new financial asset (opening up an exciting branding opportunity – Delta Assets RAB Bucks, or RABcoin - take your pick!) and then auction it off. Is this Saving consumers by slugging (the same) consumers? Tennant reckons financialisation would lead to better transparency. Frankie suggests networks surely can’t have their cake and eat it too. Alison thinks it’s brilliantly clever, but who’s buying? Luke declares it’s so confusing and opaque, it just might work!

One more things

Alison’s One More Thing is: A very happy anniversary to the RET, whose legislation was introduced to Parliament on 22 June 2000. Little did they know that 9500 GWh would lead to so much more…

Tennant’s One More Thing is: a li’l bright spot in the USA, where Fervo Energy is making geothermal advances galore. Watch this space!

Frankie’s One More Thing is: The Australian Sustainable Finance Taxonomy is here! Congrats to the ASFI team for launching this important work.

Luke’s One More Thing is: Hugh White’s new Quarterly Essay, Hard New World: Our Post American Future.

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