State budgets delivered cost of living relief this week as the fuel crisis and rising interest rates bite. Meanwhile, support for renewable energy looks set to be trumped by crisis response measures in next week’s Federal Budget.

Australia’s utility scale battery boom is helping push down wholesale energy prices, but this week showed just how much the transition still relies on transmission and distribution.

Network tariffs were front and centre this week as the rule maker delivered a new model making the case for higher fixed charges, and big energy users warned transmission blowouts were already hitting the network component of their energy bills.

As Australia’s fuel crisis went from bad to worse this week in the wake of a refinery fire, state politicians stepped up their focus on electric vehicle charging to meet the coming demand wave.

This week the Australian government agreed to underwrite oil purchases and Queensland set its sights on fast tracking new oil exploration projects.

News of a declining Australian gas demand was overshadowed this week by geopolitics as markets continue to brace for a global LNG supply squeeze.

Oil settled above US$100 a barrel this week as combatants in the Iran war set their sights on energy infrastructure and analysts braced for long-term impacts.

The global energy crisis sparked by the Iran war hit home this week in the form of a national fuel crisis that threatens to drive up interest rates and emissions.

A week into the Middle East war, spiking oil and LNG prices have markets and governments spooked.

Results season continued this week and the research sector sounded the alarm on declining investment in R&D.