Good Call on Ending Coal
14 June 2022
It is not often in this job I get to congratulate the WA State Government but today I want to commend them on their decision to close Collie’s remaining Synergy coal-fired power stations before 2030.
Importantly this decision will see an estimated $3.8 billion investment in new green power infrastructure in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). This investment in wind generation and storage in the SWIS is precisely what the Greens and I have been repeatedly calling for in recent years. This will reduce energy costs and reduce Synergy’s carbon emissions by around 80%. This is essential as WA is currently the only state in Australia with rising carbon emissions.
I also want to commend the just transition plan that is attached to this announcement. It is essential that we look after workers in the Collie area and make sure that there are sustainable jobs in the region now and in the future.
Of course, there are things I would have liked to have seen done differently. This closure of coal and investment in renewable energy could have been done even more quickly if this government hadn’t resisted and dragged its heels for the last five years.
But today is not the day to pick holes. It is a day to acknowledge a good decision that will finally see the decarbonisation of our electricity sector happen in earnest.
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