One of Australia’s leading power companies revealed renewables are costing three times as much as coal to generate the same amount of electricity.Â
In the 2025 financial year, AGL generated more than 26,000 gigawatt hours of electricity from coal and just under 5,000 gigawatt hours from renewables.Â
In its annual report for 2025, the power giant said it had spent $392million generating electricity from coal and $233million on renewables and storage.
It meant coal cost around $15 per megawatt hour, while renewables, plus storage, cost $47 per megawatt hour.
‘So renewables were more than three times more expensive than coal. This is why our energy bills keep going up,’ 2GB host Ben Fordham told listeners on his morning show on Friday.
‘We’re shutting down coal even though it’s three times cheaper than renewables.
‘Nuclear is banned and politically toxic in Australia, even though it’s doing a lot of heavy lifting in other parts of the world.’
Fordham also pointed out that AGL plans to shut down its coal-fired power stations by 2025, despite coal making up 80 per cent of its energy generation.
AGL’s annual report says renewables cost three times more than coal to produce energy (pictured, power-generating windmill turbines in Goulburn, NSW)
Coal makes up 80 per cent of AGL’s energy generation (pictured, a coal-fired power station in Muswellbrook in NSW’s Hunter Valley region)
‘Coal is still king. But like our other king (Charles), it won’t be around forever,’ Fordham said.
‘Gas is no silver bullet because according to AGL’s annual report it cost $22 to generate a megawatt hour of electricity from coal, but it cost them $115 to generate the same amount from gas.
‘With power prices continuing to rise, surely the safest step is to keep coal alive.’
The damning report comes as electricity generated from renewable sources surpassed the amount of electricity generated from coal in Australia for the first time.
In September, electricity from solar, wind hydro and biomass was 9.24 terawatt hours, compared with 8.8 terawatt hours from burning coal, according to data from Ember.
Electricity generation from renewables also surpassed coal globally in the first half of 2025.
According to the Climate Council, in 2024-25, the wholesale price for power from renewables (the price electricity retailers pay, which accounts for up to 40 per cent of power bills) was $74/MWh – compared to $135/MWh for power from coal and gas.
‘Not only are renewables the cheapest option, they are the best way to reliably power our homes and businesses into the future,’ the council states.Â
AGL spent $392million generating electricity from coal and $233million on renewables and storage in 2025, the power giant revealed in its annual report
The Climate Council argues renewables like solar are far cheaper than coal and gas (pictured, the Western Downs Green Power Hub solar farm in Queensland)
In 2023, NSW Premier Chris Minns extended the life of the Eraring power station – originally set to close in 2025 – until August 2027.
The decision came after the Australian Energy Market Operator warned the east coast could face rolling blackouts with renewable energy generation and gas unlikely to keep up with demand in the next few years.
‘I’m not going to let the power run out in NSW, and I’m not going to rule out (buying Eraring),’ Minns told Fordham in 2023.
The government has not ruled out the possibility of further extensions, saying it depended on the owners and the progress of renewables.
Eraring provides 25 per cent of NSW’s electricity.Â
Daily Mail has contacted AGL and the Clean Energy Council, and the Climate Council for comment.
Share or comment on this article:
Bombshell AGL report reveals renewables costing Aussies TRIPLE the price of coal