Australian farmers seek lower energy prices
Some irrigators who rely on electric-powered pumps to water their crops, fruit trees and vines say prices have increased more than 100 per cent in less than 10 years.
New National Irrigators Council chief executive Steve Whan said higher costs were putting pressure on irrigated agricultural production, and would eventually be felt by consumers at the supermarket.
"One example from South Australia, of Central Irrigation Trust's pumping station at Loxton: in 2010 the electricity cost was $880,000, in 2017 it's $1.8 million. That's a 107 per cent increase," he said.
Mr Whan and the National Irrigators' Council is lobbying politicians to commit to reducing power prices by 30 per cent, including through the introduction of a dedicated tariff for food and fibre producers.
Gavin McMahon, from South Australia's Central Irrigation Trust, said Australia's power prices needed to be brought into line with comparable countries.
"I'm not saying that electricity should be dirt cheap, but certainly be in the mix of the average of the OECD prices," he said.
"Currently South Australia has the highest power prices in the OECD world."
source: abc.net.au