❓ Question regarding the Minister's actions in directing Synergy to resolve issues related to Premier Coal's reduced coal supply. The Minister defends the government's response, highlighting immediate actions taken and criticising the opposition's past energy policies.
AnsweredQoN 583Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COAL-FIRED
POWER STATIONS — PREMIER COAL
583. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I have a supplementary question. The minister may not be able
to direct Premier Coal, but he does have the capacity to direct Synergy to
resolve problems earlier. Why has the minister not done that?
POWER STATIONS — PREMIER COAL
583. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Energy:
I have a supplementary question. The minister may not be able
to direct Premier Coal, but he does have the capacity to direct Synergy to
resolve problems earlier. Why has the minister not done that?
AnswerView source ↗
This is the bizarre issue that the
member does not seem to understand: when did it become clear that Premier Coal
was not going to be able to deliver the contracted tonnage? It was when it shut
the pit in August, and we did take action immediately. One of the actions that
we took was to engage with the Australian Energy Market Operator about getting
approval to not use the Collie coal-fired power station from September to
December. This is bizarre! This is a stupid idea that somehow we are either not
dealing with the issue expeditiously or being transparent. Neither of those
allegations can be justified by the behaviour of the government.
Again, on 12 August this year, I sat
at the national energy ministers' meeting when the Australian Energy
Market Operator said that it did not believe there would be any challenges to
capacity over summer in Western Australia. Exactly three weeks later, its
representatives were in my office telling me that they had changed their
position. Paul Murray said in his article that Synergy operates the south west
interconnected system; it is just not correct. Synergy is a generator in the
SWIS. Most of the electricity produced in the south west interconnected system
is not provided by Synergy; it is provided by the private sector. Western Power
operates the transmission system, but the actual market is operated by AEMO,
not by the government of Western Australia. Why is it operated by AEMO? It is because the Liberal Party asked AEMO
to take over from the Independent Market Operator. Therefore , it was
members opposite who put it in charge of the south west interconnected system.
I understand that this is a complex and difficult issue to deal with, but that
is why I am up-front and dealing with it.
Another part of the member's
criticism said these events —
� have demonstrated the risks of the
premature elimination of coal-fired generators while increasing renewable
energy.
I will remind the member that the
former government wanted to shut all the coal-fired power stations five years
before us. The former government's proposal was to have them all
closed.
Several members interjected.
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : Do not look
around; you were the shadow Minister for Energy!
Tomorrow we will have a debate about
energy policy, and I will come in here with the transcript of the press
conference when the member said it was a good idea. I will also remind the
member that he and I were both at a conference, after the election, where he
put up all the slides and went on in detail about how good the policy is. I know he has changed his mind and now he is
rewriting history that it was somebody else's idea. The member told me that he had invented the idea in June or
July 2020. Therefore, the member cannot walk away from his t humbprints
all over the idea to close every coal-fired power station in Western Australia
not by 2030, but by 2025.
member does not seem to understand: when did it become clear that Premier Coal
was not going to be able to deliver the contracted tonnage? It was when it shut
the pit in August, and we did take action immediately. One of the actions that
we took was to engage with the Australian Energy Market Operator about getting
approval to not use the Collie coal-fired power station from September to
December. This is bizarre! This is a stupid idea that somehow we are either not
dealing with the issue expeditiously or being transparent. Neither of those
allegations can be justified by the behaviour of the government.
Again, on 12 August this year, I sat
at the national energy ministers' meeting when the Australian Energy
Market Operator said that it did not believe there would be any challenges to
capacity over summer in Western Australia. Exactly three weeks later, its
representatives were in my office telling me that they had changed their
position. Paul Murray said in his article that Synergy operates the south west
interconnected system; it is just not correct. Synergy is a generator in the
SWIS. Most of the electricity produced in the south west interconnected system
is not provided by Synergy; it is provided by the private sector. Western Power
operates the transmission system, but the actual market is operated by AEMO,
not by the government of Western Australia. Why is it operated by AEMO? It is because the Liberal Party asked AEMO
to take over from the Independent Market Operator. Therefore , it was
members opposite who put it in charge of the south west interconnected system.
I understand that this is a complex and difficult issue to deal with, but that
is why I am up-front and dealing with it.
Another part of the member's
criticism said these events —
� have demonstrated the risks of the
premature elimination of coal-fired generators while increasing renewable
energy.
I will remind the member that the
former government wanted to shut all the coal-fired power stations five years
before us. The former government's proposal was to have them all
closed.
Several members interjected.
Mr W.J. JOHNSTON : Do not look
around; you were the shadow Minister for Energy!
Tomorrow we will have a debate about
energy policy, and I will come in here with the transcript of the press
conference when the member said it was a good idea. I will also remind the
member that he and I were both at a conference, after the election, where he
put up all the slides and went on in detail about how good the policy is. I know he has changed his mind and now he is
rewriting history that it was somebody else's idea. The member told me that he had invented the idea in June or
July 2020. Therefore, the member cannot walk away from his t humbprints
all over the idea to close every coal-fired power station in Western Australia
not by 2030, but by 2025.
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