Coal Power Bad News for NSW Consumers

Saturday, 25 June 2005 10:00

"The true costs of coal-fired power are absolutely exorbitant and will place a ridiculous burden on the NSW economy," said Jane Castle, TEC Campaigner.

"Once you include the cost of fuel, the cost of delivering the electricity and the cost of greenhouse emissions, saving energy is the only sensible choice."

"NSW consumers don't deserve to be treated like fools with magic pudding pockets. The Government must level with the community about the true costs of coal-fired power. It's a bad deal."

The report compares the cost of the Government's proposed 1500MW expansion of the Mount Piper coal-fired power station to energy savings that would deliver the same capacity. When the full costs of 1500MW of new coal-fired generation are included, the actual cost to NSW consumers of the proposal would be $9.4 billion over the 30 year life of the power station. This is equivalent to $3915 for every current household in NSW, compared to $500 with an energy savings strategy.

"The NSW Energy Savings Fund has already been established and is set to reduce demand by 765MW over 5 years. If the Fund is extended over 30 years, $9 billion of coal costs could be averted for a fraction of the price. Over 30 years, NSW consumers would save $2.2 billion due to greater efficiency."

"We should see a full life-cycle costing of all the options by the Government in the public domain."

"If New York and California can eliminate demand growth, as they have done recently, then NSW should at least be able to halve demand growth over the next 10 years. NSW does not need more base-load energy capacity. This is a myth being pedalled by Treasury bureaucrats because they don't have the ability to seek out real efficiency."
 

For further information

Contact
:
Jane Castle or Jeff Angel
Phone
:
61 2 9299 5599
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http://www.tec.org.au/