Impact of carbon tax on electricity prices

Andrew Bolt has put up a table showing the CO2 emissions of our largest companies, as well as how much carbon tax they'd have to pay.

Top of the list is Macquarie Generation, a state owned generator in the Hunter Valley with a couple of coal fired plants. According to Bolt, with a tax of $26 a tonne, Macquarie will have to pay $613 million in carbon taxes.

In 2010, Macquarie had total revenue of $1,157 million. Take away expenses and taxes etc, and profit ended up being $196 million.

I have seen some rather deranged comments by leftoids saying that it would be eeeeevil if companies put their prices up and "gouged" consumers.

Hmm. They make a profit of $196 million, but then get slugged with an extra $613 million in costs - and it's eeeevil of them to put their prices up?

I think not.

Still, what we do now is that in order for Macquarie to continue making a reasonable profit (it has to make a profit as it owes $800 million, and that has to be paid back out of profits), it's going to have to increase its revenue by just over 50%. Which of course will feed straight into our power bills.

Now you can argue that the purpose of the carbon tax is to force a company like Macquarie to give up coal and go renewable. However, that ignores the fact that they'll have to write off $3.4 billion worth of power stations, whilst paying off $800 million of debt. That hit of course will have to be taken by the NSW taxpayer, either through higher taxes or higher power bills. Either way, we're fucked.

A carbon dioxide tax and compensation

If we're going to be taxed for breathing out, the least the idiots in Canberra can do is make sure that everyone who emits CO2 pays for it equally. No compensation - everyone suffers equally.

"But what about the poor?", you say.

Well, the poor don't currently get a rebate on fuel excise do they? Everyone pays the same amount of tax on petrol or diesel, regardless of their income. The more miles you drive, or the thirstier your car, the more you pay. Everyone has the same incentive to drive less or to buy a stupid little buzzbox.

The whole idea of this lunatic tax is to get us to change our behaviour to one thought more suitable by our overlords in Canberra. What's the point of exempting a whole favoured swathe of the population from the impact of the tax - what incentive do they then have to adjust their life styles to those favoured by the Green elites?

Everyone is going to have to sweat equally in summer. No exceptions. You voted for these clowns, you can suffer with the rest of us.