NSW electricity future - Jeff Angel on impact statement
Monday, 10 March 2008 23:05
Impact Statement by Energy Consultative Reference Committee
The key question for me as a member of the Committee was whether possible problems with the government’s plan can be avoided, but at the same time policy settings improved in this climate change aware world. When the scheme was first announced Total Environment Centre made it clear that the plan would be subjected to the test of its impact on climate change and energy efficiency policies.
I identified four key matters:
1. The failure of energy efficiency to become a mainstream activity of the electricity industry for both public and privately owned electricity utilities. Energy efficiency crucially affects when a new baseload power station will be needed.
2. That the NSW Government should not give indemnities about environmental policy impacts (such as carbon costs), to purchasers.
3. The NSW Government should not support free permits for coal generators (to protect them from carbon pricing and insulate the asset price) because this would corrupt federal policy making on emissions trading.
4. The future of the Munmorah power station – our oldest and dirtiest – given that a decision to extend its life for another 40 years would be made before or just at the infancy of a federal emissions trading scheme.
The environmental recommendations of the Committee satisfactorily cover these four areas. The Committee’s impact statement notes that these recommendations, along with the other recommendations, must be implemented by the government if its scheme is to pass the 12 tests set by ALP policy.
There are nine recommendations relating to energy efficiency that will largely target the built sector (residential and commercial). This sector has a lot of low hanging fruit which can be quickly accessed. Further it greatly assists all households to avoid an increase in their share of income being allocated to electricity costs.
Six types of indemnities are described and should be explicitly rejected by the NSW Government.
It is recommended the Government should not have a position on free permits, preventing it from lobbying the federal government on this issue and helping assure integrity in climate change policy making.
Bidders who undertake to close Munmorah or convert the site to baseload gas should be favoured. It is noted that the Colongra peaking gas is currently being built at the site and conversion to a closed cycle gas turbine (CCGT) is practical. The best alternative coal technology is ultra supercritical coal and this is still more than double as carbon intensive as CCGT.
Total Environment Centre presented an analysis of the future carbon emissions from the NSW generator set over the next 40 years, which showed that unless emissions were cut by at least two thirds, we could not meet the 2020 and 2050 greenhouse gas targets, being advised by scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
