Auditor-General, Brendan Worrall has summarised the audit results of Queensland’s six energy entities in a new report.
Five of the entities, CleanCo, CS Energy, Stanwell, Powerlink and Energy Queensland, generate, transmit and distribute most of Queensland’s electricity, while the sixth, Ergon Energy Queensland, is the electricity retailer for most customers in regional areas.
Mr Worrall said the financial statements of all entities in the energy sector were reliable and complied with relevant laws and standards.
“All entities prepared their financial statements in a timely manner,” Mr Worrall said.
“While we were able to rely on the entities’ internal controls, we identified some deficiencies.”
He said most involved the security of information systems, including high-risk issues relating to the authorisation of online payments.
“These high-risk issues required immediate action and were resolved in a timely manner,” he said.
Mr Worrall said that while the energy sector was still financially viable, its profits had declined significantly.
“Queensland continues to have the lowest wholesale electricity prices in the National Electricity Market, and they have reduced further this year,” the Auditor-General said.
“This influences the price customers pay, but also contributes to the significant reduction in revenues and values of assets for the generators.”
He noted that the profits of the transmission and distribution businesses continued to decline “largely driven by decisions of the Australian Energy Regulator to reduce the revenue they can earn from their core business activities.”
He expected to see this trend continue in the next financial year.
“The energy sector is undergoing significant change. Our electricity system needs to adapt to these changes to ensure affordable and reliable electricity supply for Queenslanders,” Mr Worrall said.
“Coal-fired power plants are scheduled to progressively be retired over the next 26 years. As this occurs, their capacity is expected to be replaced by more renewables.”
He said the generators needed to adapt to this changing mix to ensure they remained profitable and continued to deliver electricity reliably.
The Auditor-General’s 29-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
