Mixed Greens: NSW coal & CSG mines get ‘Clayton’s approval’

Federal environment minister Tony Burke has given the nod – or a nod, of sorts – to three big new coal and coal seam gas projects for NSW, including the controversial Whitehaven mine near Narrabri. Burke, on Monday, signed conditional approvals for Whitehaven’s Maules Creek mine, planned for the Leard State Forest, Idemitsu’s neighbouring Boggabri coalmine expansion, and an AGL-planned coal seam gas development for Gloucester. The three mining projects are reported to have a potential combined carbon footprint of 47 million tonnes a year – about 8 per cent of Australia’s total emissions – according to environmental impact assessments.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott, whose electorate of Lyne would be directly affected by the planned CSG project at Gloucester, said on his website he was “gutted by the decision,” as would be many community-based groups he had worked with on the issue. “If the science was in, if we knew for certain CSG drilling represented no threat to our drinking water or to the environment, then so be it,” Oakeshott said. “But the research hasn’t been done; our bioregional study has not been done and the jury is most definitely out on what the potential impacts of CSG extraction could be. …Today’s decision was about leaked letters between the federal and state ministers; not about what is best for Gloucester and the Manning Valley.”

Speaking on ABC radio’s AM program this morning, Burke more or confirmed this fact, all but describing the decision as a “Clayton’s approval,” due to the number of strict and as-yet unresolved issues the projects are still subject to. “I don’t think there’s ever been a set of three approvals that I’ve given with so little knowledge as to whether or not the projects will end up going ahead,” Burke said – a state of affairs he blames on the O’Farrell government. “Quite simply, the New South Wales government had started to strategically leak parts of where we were up to with bits of it being reported… and effectively had a situation where market-sensitive information was starting to drip feed into the market. Pretty irresponsible pathway to choose, and something that no other state government’s ever done before.”

SP AusNet outsmarted

Victorian electricity distributor SP AusNet has been blocked by the Australian Energy Regulator from raising charges to pay for its smart meters. The Singapore Power-owned company has also been criticised for failing to switch to cheaper technology. SP AusNet had planned on charging its customers $411 million for smart meters over four years, but after a review requested by the Australian Competition Tribunal it has been ordered to reduce this to $321.50 (up from $304.1 million, named in an original ruling what was challenged by SP AusNet, in order to cover foreign exchange contract adjustments and project management costs). Consumers will not be charged for cost overruns, for technology used to transmit data from meters – other distributors are using cheaper forms of technology.

AER chairman Andrew Reeves said of the ruling: “Consumers in SP AusNet’s distribution area should not be required to bear the cost of SP AusNet’s decision not to switch to a lower cost technology. The effect is that current meter prices will increase by approximately 3 per cent each year in 2014 and 2015 on top of the 7 per cent previously allowed by the AER. SP AusNet has not ruled out challenging the decision, saying it would ”carefully review” it before deciding on a response.

Global solar-power capacity rose to at least 101 gigawatts last year as growth in China, the US and Japan outstripped some markets in Europe. Bloomberg reports that between 30-32GW were added worldwide, compared with almost 30GW in 2011, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. The group also said that solar PV plants can now generate as much electricity as about 16 mid-sized nuclear power stations.