CANBERRA, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- An Australian parliamentary committee has unanimously recommended that the government should move to modernize the nation's electricity grid.
The cross-party report, released on Monday, said that properly modernizing the grid in "a period of rapid transition" such as this one would improve "the security, reliability and affordability" of electricity as well as contributing to reducing Australia's emissions.
State governments in both Victoria and South Australia have been working for more than a year to supplement their respective power grids as they shift from relying on coal-fired generators to renewable energy sources.
Residents of both states have experienced blackouts this summer as the grid failed to keep up with demand in peak seasons.
A separate report released by the McKell institute on Monday found that Australians could be paying 340 U.S. dollars more for electricity than what is considered "reasonable" by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Andrew Broad, chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Energy, said that the nine-person committee was "determined to rise above the political fray and work in the national interest."
"The Committee sought to make recommendations that cover a range of concerns including generation, better planning, transmission and distribution networks, updating market rules and resolving policy uncertainty," Broad said in a media release on Monday.
The committee heard submissions from all six mainland Australian states and four members travelled to Germany and the U.S. to learn how those countries dealt with managing grid modernization.
"A clear theme in the evidence to inquiry was that policy uncertainty, particularly regarding emissions reduction, has affected investment in the electricity sector. The Committee considers that resolving policy uncertainty would be of enormous value," committee deputy chair Pat Conroy said.
The report was released on the same day that the acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Climate Council praised South Australia's partnership with Tesla, which will see the world's largest virtual power plant built in the state, as a game changer for the energy market.
