Dear Mr Bromhead
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This is an “open letter” response from our group regarding your current community consultation about the so called high efficiency low emissions (HELE) coal fired power station idea. Your consultation about this idea occurs in a contentious political and scientific climate as recently reported in various Sydney Morning Herald articles:
- Energy economist Bruce Mountain has said that electricity produced by wind and solar, with comparably reliable supply, would probably be 30 per cent cheaper than that produced by the most efficient coal fired power plants in Australia. Mr Mountain is a consultant who has advised government departments and regulators. (SMH, April 3)
- Federal Treasurer, Scott Morrison, has rejected a call for the government to stump up the estimated $4 billion cost of building a high efficiency, low emissions (HELE) coal-fired generator on the site of the decommissioned Hazelwood generator in Victoria. (SMH, April 4)
- The Climate Council’s professor Andrew Stock says that coal “always polluting, regardless of how it’s branded” and that “Australia must look to the future and modernise its grid through clean, affordable and reliable renewable energy and storage technology” (SMH, April 3)
Your consultation is about a thing which seems to be burning up within the Coalition before it even leaves the ground and it is hardly likely to be a proposal relevant to our part of NSW.
It might be more relevant for you to consult about whether it is time that solar owners are recognised for the power they feed back into the grid and are paid a fair price for the energy that has many benefits such as grid savings, environmental and health values. Our group wants our region powered by clean, locally-made solar energy and a fair price paid to citizens for their surplus solar energy.