Why NSW softened its stance on coal and gas in a major energy policy shift
Energy Minister Penny Sharpe insists the state's reluctance to move on from coal power and residential gas does not mean it will fall behind in the race to net zero.
For a newly minted administration eager to prove itself as a champion of the energy transition, the NSW government's recent decision to discuss rolling back the closure date of the state’s largest coal-fired power station would have been fraught.
In an interview with Capital Brief, New South Wales Energy and Environment Minister Penny Sharpe would not be drawn on how discussions with Origin Energy over the Eraring power station were progressing or when a decision might be reached. But she did concede that an extension would compromise the state’s emissions reduction targets which the government plans to enshrine in legislation.
“Of course there will be an impact but it depends on how long it stays open. But we’re about to legislate our emissions reduction targets and hopefully we’ll have legislated it by the end of the year. We'll have a net zero commission and all that transparency around how we're genuinely getting to net zero,” she said.
Sharpe laments the decision of the former Liberal-National government to privatise the state’s electricity generation and transmission businesses, and said the job of securing power supplies would have been a lot easier if the industry was still in government hands.
