Premier Daniel Andrews rejects gas ban claims as ‘urban myth’

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he accepts some forms of renewable energy are cheaper than others.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews: ‘I accept there’s different ­efficiency rates across different modes of renewable energy’. Picture: Aaron Francis

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he accepts some forms of renewable energy are more ­efficient and cheaper than others, but has warned coal is only cheap “provided you don’t count the cost to the environment”.

Acknowledging that coal-fired power generation “can’t be shut down overnight”, Mr Andrews ­defended Victoria’s moratorium on onshore gas exploration, arguing it was an “urban myth” to suggest it had resulted in higher gas prices for Victorians.

“I accept there’s different ­efficiency rates across different modes of renewable energy,” Mr Andrews told The Australian.

The Andrews government last year conducted a reverse auction as part of its renewable energy target, which will see 928MW of ­renewable energy become available by 2020.

“When we did the biggest reverse auction the country’s ever seen we weren’t insisting it be all from one particular source. In the end we’ve finished up with an outcome where there’s some very significant solar investments as well as some wind, and battery storage,” Mr Andrews said.

“At the same time, I think we have to acknowledge that different price points and different comparisons can be made and over time we’ve seen, for instance, the ultimate cost of wind come way down from what it was even a couple of years ago.”

Mr Andrews said reliability was also a factor but long-term reliability needed to be considered as well as shorter term reliability.

“You can be comparing something that’s pretty cheap but isn’t going to be there in 10 years,” Mr Andrews said.

“Coal is part of our energy generation mix. It is becoming a smaller part every single day and the companies themselves have indicated they’re out over clearly outlined timelines. One of the reasons is it’s cheap energy generation, provided you don’t count the cost to the environment.”

The Morrison government has accused Victoria and NSW of causing gas prices to increase through their moratoria on coal-seam gas exploration.

Mr Andrews said there was “a bit of an urban myth” around the allegation: “We use half what we produce. The key is not a focus on fracking. We’re proud of our settings on that. Our clean, green image, our supply chain integrity, is worth more to us than smashing up our dairy or wine country.”

Mr Andrews said the policy focus should be on protecting domestic gas reserves for Australian businesses and households first and then exporting the remainder to the highest bidder.

“We wouldn’t allow our water to be sent overseas and then have to bid for it to come back,” he said.

“This is no less than an essential service. There is no shortage of gas. There is twice what’s needed produced currently. The problem is we’re competing for the first petajoule and the last against the rest of the world.”