Government action to reduce soaring electricity costs for businesses connected to the State’s primary power grid headlines the 2026-27 Pre-Budget Submission (PBS) released today by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA (CME).
Restoring Western Australia’s reputation as an internationally competitive resources jurisdiction is the key theme of the PBS, which contains recommendations to improve electricity reliability and affordability, accelerate project assessments and speed up the delivery of project-ready industrial land.
Using publicly available data, CME estimates total delivered wholesale power costs for large industrial users on the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) have roughly doubled from around $125/MWh in 2020 to at least $210/MWh in 2025.
Those rising power prices have prompted CME to call on the WA Government to provide near-term cost-relief for large energy users to maintain their viability – and the thousands of jobs they provide – as the SWIS transitions to a low-emission future.
CME Director Policy and Advocacy Anita Logiudice said SWIS-connected resources operations supported close to 20,000 jobs and generated nearly $760 million in royalties for the WA Government last year.
“Electricity costs in the SWIS are on an unsustainable trajectory and targeted intervention is now necessary to safeguard operations until prices stabilise,” Ms Logiudice said.
“As cheap long-term energy contracts expire in the coming years, many large industrial operations will struggle to survive.
“Households have been shielded from soaring power costs by WA Government subsidies and credits but businesses have been left exposed.
“Rising power prices risk slamming the brakes on new industries like critical minerals processing and green iron and are a key barrier to capitalising on the recent US-Australia critical minerals deal and the State Government’s ambitions to expand WA’s manufacturing base.”
The PBS also calls for a specific focus on addressing reliability issues for SWIS-connected businesses in the Goldfields region, where data obtained from a sample of CME members indicates an average of four power outages per month over the past year.
“CME members estimate tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue over the past year due to these outages, in addition to the costs of running and maintaining back-up power systems,” Ms Logiudice said.
“A lack of available generation is also preventing expansion activities in a region that is experiencing booming interest in both gold and critical minerals.”
While the WA Government has so far committed $1 billion to preparing Strategic Industrial Areas (SIAs), only $12 million was spent in FY25.
The PBS recommends using the recently announced State Development Bill to quickly deliver core common-user infrastructure in priority SIAs, including Kemerton, the Western Trade Coast, Ashburton, Boodarie, Oakajee and Maitland.
To further streamline project assessments, CME continues to call for the introduction of state-based approvals KPIs and reporting mechanisms that deliver real-time insights into approvals bottlenecks.
“Western Australia’s tumble in resources investment attractiveness from fourth to 17th in the latest Fraser Institute Survey of Mining Companies should set alarm bells ringing,” Ms Logiudice said.
“Our world-leading standard of living is built on the back of our resources sector – and that resources sector was built on the back of strong investment fundamentals that helped attract over $842 billion in capital over the past two decades alone.
“But today those fundamentals are in decline. We are being outcompeted on energy costs, access to project-ready industrial land and assessment timeframes.
“WA needs to reclaim its competitive edge – and quickly – to ensure we capitalise on the potential of the energy transition and secure the prosperity of future generations of Western Australians.”
Click here for CME’s full 2026-27 State PBS or the PBS summary.
Key 2026-27 PBS recommendations for the WA Government:
- Reiterate an ongoing commitment to no new or increased taxes or royalties on the WA resources sector.
- Implement measures that provide near-term cost-relief to large energy users on the SWIS to safeguard the viability of operations throughout the transition.
- Fund Western Power, using third party resources if required, to speed up new generation and customer connections in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder region to support improved power reliability and availability.
- Prioritise improving electricity reliability for existing and near-to-market projects. In particular, the timing of Stage 1 augmentations at the Kemerton SIA should be brought forward to address existing power reliability issues.
- Use powers under the State Development Bill 2025 (WA) to speed up approvals processes for priority Strategic Industrial Areas, including basic SIA-wide approvals, common-use infrastructure approvals and any additional approvals required for specific projects within the SIAs.
- Develop KPIs and reporting mechanisms for state-based assessment timeframes that deliver real-time Departmental performance data, underpinned by measurable KPIs that support proactive decision-making and rapid response to emerging issues.
- Overturn the de facto ban on uranium mining in WA and support exploration to develop a future pipeline of projects.
- Consider opportunities for Local Government boundary adjustments to create economies of scale that remove the duplication of staff, service delivery mechanisms and infrastructure, while increasing the depth of talent pools for elected and non-elected LGA officials.
- Undertake road widening and bridge upgrades on routes core to the transportation of large modular materials and renewable power equipment needed for constructing hydrogen and green iron production projects.
- Works with the Australian Government and trading partners in the Asia Pacific region to support investment in CCUS clusters, with a focus on supporting trans-boundary shipments of carbon dioxide, bringing down the costs of deployment.
Media contacts:
Josh Zimmerman j.zimmerman@cmewa.com / 0404 947 719
Natasha Mutch n.mutch@cmewa.com / 0435 383 382