60 Minutes Australia

Who hasn't been shocked by a recent electricity or gas bill? And who isn't infuriated that power prices have risen so sharply? In a country as abundant with resources as ours, it defies logic that now some Australians can't even pay for the energy to cook a simple meal. While our fasttalking but divided politicians scramble to act.

Tonight, Elon Musk, the American billionaire with the brilliant mind, wants to explain how he can help fix Australia's energy crisis. And to prove his point, he's prepared to put his money where his mouth is. It's peak hour in Australia. I need a NOS booking. I can't uh they want a record of it. And we'll find out what's happening. Towns and cities are lighting up. Public transport is on the move and family homes are coming to life.

Inside a control room in Sydney's west, staff from Trans Grid, the company charged with ensuring the lights stay on, work the phones. The number two tire and number three tire 135, calling in power from generators all over the state. Half the population has dinner at 6:00 irrespective. So they do it. The other half have it dinner when it gets dark. But keeping Australia's massive east coast power grid functioning has never been so hard.

It's a lot like spinning plates and we move from one to the other solving problems on the power system in real time to keep the lights on. And for so many Australians, power has never cost so much. People are living on Oh, yeah. Yesterday's food. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, when I have lunch later, it won't be yesterday's. It'll be Monday's Thursday. Today, Australia is in the grip of a power crisis, crippling costs, and unreliable supply.

But there's one man who can't understand why Australia is really perfect for for solar power because it's not too far north or too far south. You could have the the the entire country be solar powered or some combination of wind, solar, uh, geothermal, hydro. Shares of the electric car maker Tesla Motors are up.

Elon Musk is the Tesla man, an American billionaire whose developments of electric cars, liftoff, and space rockets is seeing technology push the boundaries like never before. And it's all driven by his belief that if we are to survive climate change, we need to develop renewable energy. Australia could actually export power to Asia. There's so much land there uh that that that you could actually power a significant chunk of Asia.

And to prove his point, Musk is building a massive lithium ion battery powered by wind turbines in James Town, South Australia. The battery is designed to help stabilize the grid. But Musk is also hoping it will be a light bulb moment for the world. You have to do these things that really get the world's attention. Otherwise, they just don't believe you. Um, they don't think it's possible. What do you want the rest of the world to see?

I really want the rest of the world to see that you can do a very large scale 100 megawatt system is is is really quite enormous. Um this is three times more than the next biggest battery in the world. That that's just a giant giant jump forward. His interest in our energy crisis started last year when South Australia, a state already heavily invested in wind and solar power, was plunged into darkness.

The result of a massive storm that saw the state lose power. [Music] Elon Musk tweeted head first into a national political brawl when fellow billionaire Australian IT whiz Mike Cannon Brooks questioned Tesla's boast that it could help solve South Australia's energy problems by building the world's biggest battery. Why did you do that? There was no idea of what would happen afterwards. Um just more if people make big claims like that.

I'd like to check if they're real. You thought I was joking. Um cuz I I had to check on it with my team. It's like I I hope I I didn't really say something super crazy. When you get a return tweet from Elon saying, "Yeah, what did you think?" Um sweet. Just checking his kosher. You know, he he he says it's going to happen. Make us make it happen. Right. So, um this is these are public tweets. Uh yeah.

And but in a way that's that's part of what locks in the guarantee, right? He's putting his reputation online in a public forum there that you know enough noise was then created around it. Enough people saw that that it was like all right that that you know he he better get that done. [Music] Canon Brooks did a crash course in renewable energy and he quickly realized there were plenty of Australians who backed the idea.

I got multiple unsolicited solicited offers for tens of millions. I think we added up to more than hund00 million dollars in offers that came in. It was it was amazing. It was inspiring um as an Australian to see people wanting to solve this problem in a real and meaningful way. And I think they're just sick of the politics on all sides and the the you know the the ridiculous nature of our uh energy situation at the moment.

But Elon Musk's battery plan was mocked by the federal government. 30,000 South Australian households could not get through watching one episode of Australia's Ninja Warrior with this big battery. Australian treasurer Scott Morrison was particularly dismissive. By all means, have the world's biggest battery. Have the world's biggest banana. Have the world's biggest prawn. I didn't realize there was this big battle going on.

It's like I didn't know. It was like M Mr. Hollywood's walked into town. Okay. And it was like, well, you know, do I see Mollywood? Maybe, but but our treasurer, Scott Morrison, declared that this was just a shiny, you know, distraction and that and that it was akin to Well, it's shiny. It is shiny and it was it's it's akin to the big pineapple or the big banana. It's just one of those kiche. I'm not sure what Wait, is that a real thing?

They're a tourist attraction, actually. Oh, look at my Is it like the world's biggest banana or something? something like that. Well, are you disappointed by that? Oh, I think you know that we get that all the time. Um, it can be a little disheartening sometimes. Um, yeah. Yeah, sometimes. Yeah. Why did the government mock Elon Musk? Well, Elon Musk's battery uh was a fraction of the size of the snowy hydro scheme.

It was sold to the people of South Australia as an answer to their woes by Jay Weatherall. Whereas in reality, it is just a fraction of what that state needs. [Music] Everyone is fair game in what is now a highstakes political power play. Electricity, the supply, but particularly the cost is constantly gnoring away at the federal government and its energy minister, Josh Friedenberg. The fact is that politics has failed Australians, hasn't it?

We have failed to deliver to Australians for years now um an essential service. Well, the Argie bargi in CRA over the last decade has not helped lower power bills. In fact, it's created the uncertainty in the market which now industry is demanding be fixed. That's why the National Energy Guarantee offers us that opportunity for the first time in more than a decade.

The National Energy Guarantee aims to make the system more reliable and ultimately ease the nation's financial pain. But the savings for households are predicted to be minuscule. We have what's called power poverty. I'm seeing people who are saying, "How can it be that, you know, I'm going to get a miserable 50 cents a week perhaps, and I'm supposed to applaud that?" Well, that's just a Labor Party distraction and distortion. Is that not true?

That is not true. So, what will they get? They will get up to $115 a year saving. And when they say, um, a couple of hundred truly, you're out of touch. You'd say a couple of hundred dollars reduction in your power bill means a lot to a lot of people and it's just the start of what we are seeking to do. Under the Labor Party, your bills will go up by hundreds of dollars. That's what the modeling shows.

No longer are we allowing the Labor Party to pursue an ideological approach. You see, they'll hate that politicking. They'll hate you saying that because that's just more politics. Well, the reality is that politics is a battle of ideas. Our idea is a national energy guarantee put forward by the experts. It allows for a greater role for renewables. It keeps coal and gas in the system. It makes up for the mistakes of the past.

And importantly, it lowers power bills. For pensioners like Brian and FA Willlet, all this talk doesn't mean much. They still have to tailor their lives around the electricity bill. Thank you, Ellie. Thank you. Mostly, it means meals are basic and require little cooking. Today, it's a bread roll, leftovers salvaged from the local bakery. One thing we need to do is make sure we keep the um curtains shut cuz Yeah. keep the heat out.

Keep the heat out. You live your life around trying to keep that power price down. Yeah. I've never really thought of it like that, but yes, that that that'll be pretty right. What do you do through winter? We did not use the heater once. Uh we tend to use blankets. Um put on two pairs of socks instead of one or wear the Ugg boots. It's stuff I presume that before you took for granted. To some ways it feels like survival rather than living.

U it seems strange that life is becoming much harder as we get older. [Music] More than ever, Australians are struggling to pay for their power. A record number of families are on hardship plans or deferred payments. And the rate of disconnections in most states has risen sharply. For Elon Musk, learning of this growing power poverty is overwhelming. Cost of power is making it almost a luxury item. Wow. Really?

It's that I didn't realize it's that expensive. Australia has so many natural resources. is I mean even if you go the fossil fuel route the electricity should be very cheap. There are Australians today wondering if they can even turn on their lights. There are Australians today wondering um well should we go without some food? Sure. In in that's just not something you would ever expect. I did not expect that. H we work harder.

For Musk, it's frustrating because for him, the solution is so simple and in abundance in Australia. The whole point of renewable energy is to make for a cleaner environment and frankly save the planet. The majority of scientists are emphatic that we're witnessing dramatic climate change. and not to fully embrace renewable energy is suicide. [Music] It's necessarily true that we will live on renewables. It's just a question of when.

In fact, it's it's it's it's in the definition that um if if it's not renewable, that means it's it's going to run out at some point and you will have the choice of collapse of civilization and um into the dark ages we go or find something that is renewable. So all of this is about um saving ourselves. Yeah. Coming up now. Yep. Boring now. The billiondoll energy business in our own backyards. Like hidden gold, isn't it?

They call it the the new oil. And how to slash your electricity bill. This is it. This is the battery. Will serve as an inspiration really to the whole world. This is possible. That's next on 60 Minutes. [Music] As Australians struggle to keep the lights on, there's a billion dollar energy business buried in our own backyard. Lithium ion batteries and their ability to store renewable energy have emerged as a massive international best seller.

And for Australia, that's great news. controller is now armed. If you hold down both of those fire buttons and don't forget to look up, then the shot will initiate now. Yep. Firing now. Well done. Well, Liz, what you just fired in 3 months that'll be in China. In 6 months, that'll be in a battery. That's extraordinary. So that that's that's a boom. Well, that's a bang. That's a bang. But it's all part of what I think might be a boom.

While our politicians continue to bicker away about the best way forward, it seems that many investors have already decided where the smart money is. With the insatiable demand for lithium ion batteries has come a new mining boom in Australia. Western Australia is now the world's largest producer of lithium.

Which means that mines like this one at Mount Marian are not only helping to feed a hungry green energy industry, they're also making a pretty penny. It's not on the scale of iron ore yet, but the lithium industry is creating new wealth and along with it new mining entrepreneurs. So this is the final product. It is and that will get trucked and then on a boat for China.

Chris Reed is the managing director of Neo Metals, a large lithium mine outside Calguli. What is the value of the lithium mining industry in Australia? Uh, currently the exports from Western Australia this financial year we predict will be uh over a billion Australian dollars. This is like hitting gold, isn't it? Well, it's uh they call it the the new oil. And it is and it might replace it. Absolutely.

I mean half the world's lithium batteries are are made in China. Uh half the lithium production is in China predominantly off Australian feed stocks. For us the next step is to value add in Australia and make our own batteries. Look I think one day certainly that that can be done. This in your opinion is an electric revolution. Yeah, look, absolutely. And it's really the format of the batteries has got bigger.

They're going in the phones, they're going in the laptops, now they're in the electric motorbikes, uh the cars, and now we're going to the largest format is is renewable energy storage. [Music] In Nevada, America, Elon Musk has a gigafactory pumping out thousands of lithium batteries in a building that only keeps growing. The batteries are to power his electric cars, but also homes and they're already in use in Australia. So, this is it.

This is it. This is the battery. And how long does it take to charge? Uh on a nice sunny day from from 0% charge it might take a few hours. [Music] In Salsbury, South Australia, Michael and Melissa Pony installed a battery to store the energy produced from their solar panels as part of a trial with their local energy provider.

and it immediately won them over when their home was one of the few to come through the storm that blacked out most of the state. I suppose I didn't realize the impact of the power cut until we came home and um I think we confused the neighbors because our lights were the only ones on on the street. Michael and Melissa now have a one-year-old son, Theo, and the expanded family means home appliances are in constant use.

using the heater more to keep um our baby, you know, nice and warm over winter. Um the dryer because it goes through so much more clothes and all those sorts of things. And uh the microwave just heating up meals and yeah, it was just, you know, I'm not working at the moment being on maternity leave. So any savings is beneficial. The couple monitors their power with the latest technology.

We've earned just in this month $32 which helps them keep a close eye on costs. Your costs you think have been halfed? Absolutely. Um I think since we've had the solar system in we would have saved thousands now. Thousands. Well, I guess you can't imagine what it might be like if you didn't have that battery. Oh, well we we were seeing electricity bills of over $1,000 before we put the solar in.

So, I can only imagine what those bills would be looking like now if we if we hadn't bit the bullet and tried to nip it in the bud when we did. Yeah. Can you give me an update on that, please? Despite the government's proposed new energy policy, little will change immediately for Australians grappling with their power bills. And with summer looming, Trans Grid CEO Paul Italiano and his staff will also be watching supply.

So we have a summer peak demand driven by air conditioning. Air conditioning and air conditioning cooling is the biggest driver of electricity demand. So when there is a blackout, do you feel you've failed? Yes. Our role is to keep the lights on. That's what we're here to do. And to keep its customers cool, Transgrid will be depending heavily on coal. We can run it remotely from both regions.

So on Tuesday, but Paul Italiano believes it is time we addressed our renewable energy options. The amount of sun, wind, and wave energy that we have available to us is the envy of the world. that if we properly configured our power system, we could have a substantially greater amount of renewable energy in it. In fact, we could lead the world in renewable energy engineering. So, you can understand why people feel duted.

We are experiencing blackouts and we can barely pay the price. No one would argue that what we are doing at the moment is considered successful. Do you have solar panels? I don't. Shame on you. It's It's a big investment and I've got uh other priorities at the moment, but certainly uh I'm watching my power bill regularly. Well, you must be shocked. Yeah. And I I And we've been paying too much.

If Elon Musk had his way, the world would be totally powered by renewables and he'd be colonizing Mars. He is a big picture man with big plans. But it might be his push for the modest lithium battery will prove to be one of the more significant steps in this electric revolution. You have been seen as a catalyst, somebody that is showing gosh there isn't there is another way. Yeah. And that's that's a great thing.

people in Australia should should be proud of the fact that Australia has the world's biggest battery. This is pretty great. Um, and that it will serve as an inspiration really to the whole world as well to to say that this is possible. Hello, I'm Liz Hayes. Thanks for watching. To keep up with the latest from 60 Minutes Australia, make sure you subscribe to our channel.

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