Origin seeks to gain from coal power cutbacks Apr 28, 2021 â 5.21pm Save Share Origin Energy is understood to have opted to cut back generation at its huge coal power station in NSW in favour of buying cheap electricity from the wholesale market early this year in an example of the responses by traditional generators to the soft demand and prices plaguing the sector. The approach by Origin, which partly explains the drop in the running rate of Eraring noted in the Australian Energy Market Operatorâs March quarter report, would result in cost savings as it took advantage of lower prices to buy from the pool rather than running its own, higher-cost plant.