# Capture — $2 billion

- **Claim filed:** A “$2 billion intervention” — the Turnbull government’s opening price for Snowy 2.0.
- **Who:** Malcolm Turnbull / Federal Government, 16 March 2017
- **URL:** https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-16/snowy-hydro-scheme-funding-boost-to-secure-electricity-supply/8358502
- **Date on page:** 16 March 2017
- **Publisher:** ABC News
- **Title:** Snowy Hydro scheme boost to secure electricity supply on east coast: Government
- **Captured:** 2026-08-14
- **Method:** saved HTML (`abc-2017-03-16.html`)

## Verbatim (ABC, 16 March 2017)

> The Federal Government has announced a $2 billion intervention in Australia's electricity supply debate, by expanding the Snowy Mountains hydro scheme in a bid to power up to 500,000 homes.

Frydenberg, same piece:

> while the scheme's expansion would “run into the billions of dollars”

## The other meter

Feasibility, 21 December 2017 — `abc-2017-12-21.html`  
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-21/snowy-hydro-2.0-could-actually-cost-as-much-as-$4.5b/9277368

Paul Broad: costs now **$3.8–$4.5 billion**. “It’s expensive, but it stacks up economically.”

> It won't be a cost to taxpayers, we will be paying for this out of the balance sheet of Snowy Hydro.

ABC explainer, 3 June 2026 — `abc-2026-06-03.html`  
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-03/billions-over-budget-years-late-how-snowy-hydro-2-got-here/106706518

- August 2023 reset to **$12 billion** (six times the original).
- On that $12 billion line: about **$3 million a day** since announcement.
- Company has admitted the final tag will be higher.

ANAO (cited on the 2023 reset card): $11.1 billion spent at 31 March 2026, 73% complete; October 2025 advice that expenditure is expected to exceed the approved $12 billion.

HumeLink (~$5 billion) is excluded from the Snowy 2.0 tag and billed to NSW consumers (Guardian, 31 August 2023).

## What this file does not do

It does not file “never build pumped hydro.” It files the $2 billion opening number against the later invoices.