Labor and Liberal energy policies for election 2019

Industry has pleaded with politicians to elevate high energy costs to a key election issue or many companies face the veryreal prospect of going out of business. SEE HOW THE PARTIES DIFFER ON ENERGY POLICY.

L to R, Qenos process operator Glenn Hayward with Qenos CEO Steve Bell and fellow process operator James Murray at the Qenos petrochemical plant in Matraville, Sydney, today (28/02/2019).

• Read the latest on the state election
• Industries fear rising energy costs
• Policies in Brief: Education

Industry has pleaded with politicians to elevate high energy costs to a key election issue or many companies face the veryreal prospect of going out of business.

Cutting energy bills was front and centre of the election campaign last month but since then both sides of politics have gone silent on a major concern that affects every voter.

See how the two major parties differ on the issue.

THE POLICIES

Liberal/Nationals

● Retirees: 130,000 self-funded retirees will be able to claim $200 a year to help with their power bills. The rebates will be available to customers who hold a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card through Service NSW centres and online from 1 July 2019.

● Solar: Up to 300,000 households across NSW could save hundreds of dollars on their power bills by installing solar panels funded via a low interest loan. To be eligible for the scheme, applicants will need to be owner-occupiers of a house with an annual household income of up to $180,000. Loans of up to $9,000 per battery system and up to $14,000 per solar-battery system will be available. It is estimated that a family with a $500 quarterly electricity bill could save up to $285 a year on their bills while repaying the no interest loans. These savings could increase to more than $2,000 a year when the loan is fully repaid. Households with quarterly energy bills of $625 could save up to $457 a year while repaying the no-interest loans, and up to $2,200 a year when the loan is fully repaid. Households with quarterly energy bills of $875 could save up to $640 a year while repaying the loans, and up to $2,390 when the loan is repaid.

● Coal: Supports a balanced mix of electricity generation in the NSW grid, which opens the door to potential new coal fired power stations being built.

● Coal seam gas: Supports coal seam gas mining as long as it occurs outside certain exclusion zones and get the tick of approval from the Independent Planning Commission.

● Carbon emissions: Targeting net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Labor

● Solar: Labor will support 500,000 households to install roof top solar and help reduce their electricity bills over the next 10 years. Under Labor’s Solar Homes policy, owner occupied households in NSW with a combined income of $180,000 or less would be eligible for a rebate, to be capped at $2,200 per household. On average, households with a 4 kilowatt solar system could expect to save $600 a year off the average yearly household electricity bill of $1800, according to the Smart Energy Council.

Labor will deliver a total of 7 gigawatts of new, renewable energy – enough energy to power more than 3 million homes in the state (as many homes as NSW has today) – by 2030, ensuring NSW has secure, clean and affordable energy. This package includes the creation of a new State Owned Corporation to deliver a further 1 gigawatt of renewable energy generation and storage over the next decade

A Daley Labor Government, if elected in March, will introduce NSW’s first renewable energy target. It will require NSW to generate: • At least 50 per cent of our state’s energy from renewable sources by 2030; and • Move to as close to as possible 100 per cent energy from renewable sources by 2050.

● Coal: Doesn’t see a future for new coal-fired power stations in NSW.

● Coal seam gas: Labor wants a statewide moratorium on CSG, underpinned by a range of permanent ‘no go’ areas where CSG should never be permitted, including core water catchments.

● Carbon emissions: Targeting net zero carbon emissions by 2050.