Capture — two meters, one slogan

Claim filed: Renewables are “the cheapest new electricity” and that is “the best way… to put downward pressure on bills.” Also: “they’re the cheapest.”
Who: Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Climate Change and Energy
URL: https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/bowen/media-releases/joint-media-release-renewables-lead-australias-cheapest-energy-source
Date on page: 17 December 2025
Publisher: Ministers for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Title: Renewables lead as Australia's cheapest energy source
Captured: 2026-08-14
Method: saved HTML (bowen-gencost-2025-12-17.html)

Verbatim (ministerial release)

CSIRO’s modelling show that in 2030 and 2050 solar and wind outperform alternatives like coal and nuclear as the cheapest form of energy.

“GenCost is clear; renewables remain the cheapest new electricity, and firming them with battery storage, transmission, hydro and a small amount of gas peaking is the best way to keep the lights on and put downward pressure on bills.”

“Renewables are not just the cleanest energy option, they’re the cheapest.”

What GenCost actually measured (same file family)

CSIRO news, 15 July 2026 — csiro-gencost-2026-07-15.html
https://www.csiro.au/en/news/all/news/2026/july/gencost-2025-26

GenCost is “the costs of new-build electricity generation, storage and hydrogen technologies.”
NEM generation price about $104/MWh in 2025, down from $189/MWh in 2022.
Futures: $80–90/MWh by 2030.
By 2050, “no new electricity generation technology is expected to deliver electricity below $100/MWh.”

What household prices actually did (other meters)

ABS, 29 July 2026 — abs-cpi-2026-06.html
https://www.abs.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/cpi-rose-38-year-june-2026

“Electricity remains one of the biggest contributors to annual inflation, with costs 22.4 per cent higher than 12 months ago… This is largely because government rebates which reduced household electricity bills have ended.”

AER Default Market Offer 2026–27 (from 1 July 2026), summarised in solarquotes-dmo-2026-05-26.html
https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/aer-dmo-2026-27-power-bills-drop/
https://www.aer.gov.au/news/articles/news-releases/aer-releases-final-default-market-offer-2026-27

Flat-rate residential DMO: down 3.4% to 7.2% in NSW and SE Queensland; South Australia +1.4%.

The ministerial page does not cite the household CPI series or the DMO when it says “downward pressure on bills.”