Costa Group, Australia's biggest fruit and vegetable grower, has commented on the "disgraceful" state of the nation's energy market. Fears of summer blackouts forced the company to spend millions of dollars on back-up generators to protect its crops around the country.
Large power users, already struggling with runaway electricity and gas prices, are on edge after the energy market operator warned of an elevated blackout risk for Victoria this summer if repairs to power plants are not completed on time.
Harry Debney, the head of ASX-listed horticulture giant Costa Group, said the company had installed back-up generators to protect crops from a disruption to energy supplies in a number of states: "It's a disgraceful situation. … There's a lack of reliability, which is even more important than the cost, because if you're out of production it just really hurts you very badly."
Source: smh.com.au