Lights off: Part II

The Nature Conservation Council has enlisted the support of the Environmental Defenders Office to look at potential breaches of the Trade Practices Act. Critics also say that by subsidising coal the NSW government is undermining a federal price on carbon, as well as distorting the national electricity market - through which more than $10bn is traded across the eastern states - because subsidised power from NSW could be exported interstate.

The Cobbora Coal Mine consortium acquired two high security licences totalling 2371 megalitres (almost 2.5 billion litres) from Warren, downstream from Burrendong Dam. Many residents naturally are extremely concerned about the environmental impacts of this mine. Although the Final Report has not yet been published the Preliminary Environmental Assessment justified their concerns by noting the high risk ratings for each of surface water, groundwater, ecology, heritage, air quality, and noise and vibration.

The official line: the future for energy consumers

The 2010 AGL “Boomerang Effect” Working Paper suggested that rising wealth is driving substantial increases in peak energy demand, which causes the power grid to require vast amounts of incremental generating and network capacity. Its authors considered it predictable that fuel poverty – a situation where the combined energy costs of a household exceed 10% of income – would emerge in Australia for the first time amongst low disposable income households.

Earlier this year the NSW Government extended rebates, and now one in three households in NSW are eligible for assistance with their energy bills.