Sharpe denies “bullying” as renewable zone transmission push comes under fire

Allegations that farmers are being bullied into land deals to facilitate a major renewable energy infrastructure project have been denied by the NSW government.

But NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe concedes there are some problems with a government agency’s push to build the poles and wire to support renewable energy zones in the state’s central-west.

Some interactions between negotiators and landholders had not been adequate and the government was working closely with agency EnergyCo to address the issues, she said.

“I don’t accept bullying behaviour is occurring, I do accept people are finding it very challenging,” Ms Sharpe told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday.

The minister said mental health support would be increased for residents and landholders, with details to be announced soon.

Her comments come days after Treasurer Daniel Mookhey promised to hold EnergyCo’s “feet to the fire” over its negotiating behaviour.

The agency is leading the development of transmission lines connecting solar and wind farms in the NSW central-west to consumers in Sydney and Newcastle.

It has employed third-party negotiators to strike deals with landholders, some of whom are being offered about $200,000 per kilometre of land that a line runs over.

Other deals concern the creation of private roads for construction crews.

Similar negotiations are playing out across the country as major transmission lines that previously ran between the city and a few coal-fired power stations now fan out to dozens of solar and wind farms.

Calls to build the lines underground to protect farming land and reduce bushfire risk have been dismissed by multiple governments.

About 81 per cent of landholders in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone had struck an agreement, parliament was told on Thursday.

But that clear majority was not necessarily good news, Nationals MP Wes Fang suggested.

“My concern is that 81 per cent of people feel like they have been negotiating with a gun to their head, because of the … tactics that EnergyCo have used,” he said while questioning Ms Sharpe.

The NSW energy minister rejected any suggestion landholders were not aware of what they were doing.

Negotiations had been extended in some circumstances while other landholders were willing to head for compulsory acquisition, believing they would get a better deal from the valuer-general, she said.

In response to questioning from climate-change sceptic and Liberal Democrat MP John Ruddick, Ms Sharpe said the capital cost if the state’s ageing coal-fired power stations were replaced with new coal stations, would be about $46 billion.

Replacing the facilities with nuclear-powered stations would cost $226 billion, she said.

Source: AAP