Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Opinion

Snowy Hydro – The Business: Part 2, by Max Talbot

By

OVER the last few weeks I have posted information suggesting that Snowy Hydro has not managed the vast waters under its control appropriately and in particular that it has failed to store flood waters for subsequence seasons and even exacerbated flooding in the Riverina by making water releases from Lake Eucumbene – the system’s central reservoir.

Max Talbot was the Executive Officer Strategic Engineering at Snowy Hydro and Operations Engineer Snowy Mountains Council for many years, retiring in 2003.  He has written extensively on the Corporation and recently updated a document ‘Snowy Hydro – The Business’ penned in 2008.   Mr Talbot has generously given permission for me to publish this document as a four part series.  Following is Part 2 – explaining sources of revenue and more.

Snowy Hydro Ltd. – a Corporate Entity

Overview

The Snowy Scheme was corporatised and began operation as Snowy Hydro Ltd in 2002.  Snowy Hydro is incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 and is a public company limited by shares.  Shares were issued gratis to the Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian governments in the percentages of their electricity entitlements, i.e., 13, 58 and 29% respectively.  The Snowy Mountains Authority’s outstanding debt of about $700m was transferred to Snowy Hydro who was required to refinance it and repay the Commonwealth.

Corporatisation was achieved via the negotiation and implementation of a series of “agreements” (46 in total) of which the 75 year water licence – that sets out Snowy Hydro’s rights and obligations with respect to management of the Snowy Schemes water resource – and the transfer of the Schemes infrastructure and assets are of critical importance to the viability of its business

Snowy Hydro is a successful member of the NEM where it occupies a unique position selling peak and shoulder energy and energy services to the market and risk management products to other market participants. Since corporatisation it has widened its activities beyond the Scheme into gas turbine generation and electricity retailing. It had an income of $781.9m in 2009-10 and a net profit of $266.9m after tax of $113.7m.

[Read more…] about Snowy Hydro – The Business: Part 2, by Max Talbot

Floods Steal Precious Topsoil?

By

According to journalist Peter Sheehan writing in today’s Sydney Morning Herald:

“The rivers have been running brown. A lot of the lifeblood of this country has been gushing away in liquid mountains we don’t even see.  A few sages warned that the worst thing that could happen to Australia after a decade of drought was sustained rain…

In the piece Mr Sheehan goes on to repeat many of the myths about Australian farming.  What he doesn’t mention is that farming practices have significantly improved over recent decades.  Indeed once upon a time sugarcane farmers in Queensland used to crop the hillsides and then burn the residue before harvest.  Now they only farm the flats and mulch as they harvest through a process known as ‘green cane trash blanketing’.  

And certainly the Fitzroy Catchment was not drought ravaged when the recent floods hit, which may explain why relative to past flood, Bill Burrows, in a recent post at this blog, described the current flood as relatively “clean”.

Read the piece by Peter Sheehan here:  
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/floods-steal-precious-topsoil–and-future-goes-down-drain-20110109-19jrq.html

But then also go to the trouble of getting some perspective by reading someone who does know about farming and Australia’s top soil, I am referring to David F. Smith, former  Director-General of Agriculture for Victoria, and his article ‘Green Myths About Australian Farming’ first published at Quadrant Online here:

http://www.quadrant.org.au/magazine/issue/2009/4/green-myths-about-australian-farming

[Read more…] about Floods Steal Precious Topsoil?

Global Weather Disasters: Christopher Monckton responds to Michael Steketee

By

According to journalist Michael Steketee writing in The Australian the news is not promising and neither is the data:  Climate change is a reality and we can blame the recent deluge in Queensland and rising temperatures on it.

Looking at the same data, particularly the rainfall data, I’ve come to a completely different conclusion. 

Christopher Monckton has gone to the trouble of immediately writing a detailed response to Mr Steketee…

Read the article by Mr Steketee for an appreciation of what it is to be a true believer: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/global-weather-disasters-a-sign-the-heat-is-on/story-e6frg6zo-1225983256858

Read the complete response by Mr Monckton here, for some perspective:
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/originals/2010_warmest_on_record.pdf

[Read more…] about Global Weather Disasters: Christopher Monckton responds to Michael Steketee

Bill Burrows on the Rockhampton Flood

By

SOME of you would have heard of Australian rangeland ecologist, Dr Bill Burrows.  Bill, now retired, lives on the dunes at Emu Park with views of the flood plume flowing north from the Fitzroy River mouth.    According to Bill this has been one of the least dramatic and cleanest floods with only occasional frothing from pollution visible in the Coral Sea and, up to this time, much less debris washing up than even with the much smaller flood in 2006.  

Bill witnessed the 1954 flood (the second highest since Europeans arrived) which was still just receding when a young Queen Elizabeth visited Rockhampton on March 16 that year.   Bill’s father was a station ‘ringer’ during the 1918 flood; known locally as The Great Flood which peaked at 10.03 metres (almost one metre higher than this event).   In the scheme of things, according to Bill, the present case is just another flood and not a particularly severe one relative to 1954 or 1918 – and much cleaner than previous floods, perhaps because of improved land and river bank management.  

[Read more…] about Bill Burrows on the Rockhampton Flood

Rhetoric from Climate Minister Disputed by Anthony Cox

By

MINISTER for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, believes in anthropogenic global warming.  Send him a request asking he justify this belief and the reply is likely to be long and full of appeals to authority: 

“There is clear evidence that our climate is changing, largely due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases.  The Fourth Assessment Report, produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007, states that global warming is ‘unequivocal’ and ‘most of the observed increase in globally-averaged temperatures since the mid-20th Century is very likely due to the observed increase in greenhouse gas concentrations’.

[Read more…] about Rhetoric from Climate Minister Disputed by Anthony Cox

Snowy Hydro – The Business: Part 1, by Max Talbot

By

OVER the last few weeks I have posted information suggesting that Snowy Hydro has not managed the vast waters under its control appropriately and in particular that it has failed to store flood waters for subsequence seasons and even exacerbated flooding in the Riverina by making water releases from Lake Eucumbene – the system’s central reservoir. 

Max Talbot was the Executive Officer Strategic Engineering at Snowy Hydro and Operations Engineer Snowy Mountains Council for many years, retiring in 2003.  He has written extensively on the Corporation and recently updated a document ‘Snowy Hydro – The Business’ penned in 2008.   Mr Talbot has generously given permission for me to publish this document as a four part series.  Following is Part 1 – providing an historical perspective.

[Read more…] about Snowy Hydro – The Business: Part 1, by Max Talbot