Former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has warned the state Labor government’s A$62 billion (US$39.59 billion) clean energy plan is too risky, saying the opposition should push Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to guarantee regular mums and dads will not be forced to pay more.
On Sept. 28, Palaszczuk revealed the bold plan for the state’s energy future which includes overhauling the grid so that 70 percent of the state’s power needs are supplied by renewables by 2032 and 80 percent by 2035. Currently, around 75 percent of the state’s power comes from coal-fired generation.
As part of the plan, the government will push to build two pumped hydro dams, one at Pioneer-Burdekin and the other at Borumba by 2035; a new “SuperGrid to connect solar, wind, battery, and hydrogen generators across the vast state; construct 11.5 gigawatts of rooftop solar and six gigawatts of embedded batteries, and stop operating coal-fired power stations by 2035 (except as back-up for renewable generators).
The government is also promising to create 100,000 new jobs by 2040 and that most will be in regional Queensland.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the two new hydro facilities would together be larger than the Snowy Mountains Hydro facility in New South Wales.
“We will use cheap solar electricity during the day to pump water up the mountain to store it. Then at night, we can release the water to generate electricity. It’s like a giant battery,” he said. The government has pledged the Pioneer facility will supply “half of Queensland’s entire energy needs.”
While Mick de Brenni, minister for energy and renewables, lauded the fact the generators would all be delivered under public ownership.
‘Too Fast, High Risk’
Preceding state leader Newman responded, saying the taxpayer should not be funding such a “high risk” venture, and it should instead be the private sector.“I would like to see the private sector being invited to deliver these projects at their cost, at their risk—not the taxpayer—and guarantee that they can supply power 24 hours a day, seven days a week reliably. That’s what should be happening,” he told The Epoch Times.
“I'd be asking for total unequivocal guarantees that this will lead to lower power prices for Queensland families and businesses,” he added.
Newman said electricity prices were going up despite much of the transmission infrastructure (poles and wires) and electricity generators in the state being owned by government-owned companies Ergon Energy and Energex.
“If Queenslanders are wondering about high power prices, and they only have to turn around and look at their own state government and Annastacia Palaszczuk and ask, ‘Who are the ones charging high power prices?’” he said.
“The government is literally making money out of the hides of Queensland families and businesses.”
The latest announcement comes just days after the Queensland government pledged $766 million to fund the “largest publicly-owned wind farm” in the country, which will include 150 wind turbines—enough to power 230,000 homes, according to a government statement.
The investment comes despite the state’s finances plunging further into debt and the government rolling out four new taxes—and bigger traffic fines—in the last budget to deal with soaring costs.
