Coalition and One Nation’s plan to ditch net zero would not lower power prices, CSIRO report finds

The CSIRO’s latest GenCost report says abandoning Australia’s net zero target would not lower electricity prices, contradicting Coalition and One Nation claims. The report says generation costs are likely to rise after 2030 regardless of policy, then stabilise below recent price spikes. It also finds renewables remain the cheapest power source, while nuclear is the most expensive option across current technologies. The article highlights that wholesale prices in the National Electricity Market fell from a 2022 peak of $189/MWh to $104/MWh in 2025, and are expected to stay below $100/MWh for several years before rising as coal exits the system. For the Australia 200, the piece is mainly a macro/policy input: it reinforces the view that energy transition costs and power prices are driven more by coal retirements, replacement capacity, and grid investment than by the emissions target itself.