The federal government is ramping up the pressure on AGL to sell or extend the life of Muswellbrook's Liddell Power Station.
Liddell is the oldest coal-fired power station in the Hunter Valley, however, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull believes it is "manifestly in the public interest" for AGL to keep the station running beyond its planned closure in 2022.
It's understood an informal approach has been made to AGL by rival company, Alinta Energy, to buy Liddell, while the Prime Minister phoned AGL chief executive Andy Vesey on Tuesday to discuss the move.
Malcolm Turnbull said the power giant would be doing the "right thing by their customers, by the community, and I think by their own shareholders, to keep this plant going for another four or five years or sell it to somebody who is prepared to do so."
However, Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon has labelled the idea as a way for the Prime Minister to repent for failures in the energy sector in the eyes of voters.
"I believe the Prime Minister is playing catch-up and thinking more about the next election and his failures in energy than concerns about the Hunter," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"I have no problem with Liddell operating for a few more years," he continued,"in fact I welcome that, but whether AGL can come to a commercial arrangement with a buyer is an entirely different matter," he said.
The MP thinks there is no point keeping the station running a few extra years if it eliminates investment plans for renewable technologies which could create and sustain jobs for years to come.
Environmental Justice Australia's Dr James Whelan has slammed the idea, following the release of new data showing a growing level of emissions coming from Hunter Valley coal-fired power stations like Bayswater and Liddell.
There was a 69% jump in dangerous fine particle emissions at Bayswater, while a massive 179% spike was recorded at Lake Macquarie's Vales Point Power Station.
"Air pollution kills more than 3000 Australians prematurely every year," Dr Whelan explained,"a lot of the health effects are from fine particles from coal-fired power stations, while sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen have acute and short-term respiratory impacts that can cause asthma attacks and hospital admissions for inflamed throats."
He said given the health risks posed by non-renewable energy generation, the extension of the old Liddell station is a terrible idea.
"We're dismayed by the jockeying for the Liddell Power Station...it's toxic, old and inefficient and its time has come.
"Closing Liddell would have a huge health benefit on the communities in the Hunter Valley, we'd see 183,000 kilograms less fine particle pollution each year," Dr Whelan said.
Meanwhile, Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen is pushing for a new high-energy, low emissions (HELE) coal power station to be built in his electorate.
He's praised the efforts of 20 federal backbenchers including former PM Tony Abbott, who are lobbying for better energy guarantees to drive down energy costs by increasing demand.
Michael Johnsen says they have the funds [raked in from a regional NSW $4.1 billion-dollar cut of the Snowy Hydro sale] to make it happen.
"Families are feeling the cost of electricity in their home budgets, and businesses are feeling the costs, which puts a lot of jobs at risk," he said.
"We can't afford that...we've got the resources, the expertise and the infrastructure and we should be building new HELE coal-fired power stations."
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| Resurrected? Liddell could be saved from retirement in 2022. Image: ABC. |
