EnergyAustralia has suffered a mass exodus of its key trading team, heightening pressure on the beleaguered retail giant that is still reeling from a loss of $1.6 billion in just six months.understands four traders have resigned from EnergyAustralia’s contract trading team after being poached by a new entrant to Australia’s energy market.
New staff also face the prospect of looming market volatility. Recent Labor intervention to cap the price of gas has brought the market to a standstill, and industry figures fear a repeat of last winter when demand spiked at a time when traditional fossil fuel generators were offline. EnergyAustralia, which suffered six-month losses of $HK8.68 billion for its parent company CLP Group, has been hurt by Australia’s rapid transition away from fossil fuels.The hefty loss for the June half, which CLP flagged in June, was driven by a $HK7.96 billion paper loss on the value of energy hedging contracts held by EnergyAustralia, triggered by what the Asian parent described as “unprecedented market volatility”.
While it seeks new investment, EnergyAustralia is pushing aggressively to lure customers with offers to install solar and batteries at their homes in a bid to boost its strategy to rapidly develop virtual power plants .