SEC in ‘chaos’: uses Spanish wind farm as annual report cover photo

Victoria’s State Electricity Commission has used the image of a Spanish wind farm on the front cover of its annual report.

Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio’s SEC is in chaos, with board members resigning as it resorts to using a Spanish wind farm as its annual report cover photo.

Victoria’s government-owned State Electricity Commission has been caught using the image of a Spanish wind farm on the front of its annual report.

Rather than sending a photographer out to get an image of a Victorian wind farm, the SEC appears to have simply jumped online and bought the Spanish wind farm image, which Google’s reverse image search shows was taken by Barcelona photographer Jordi Mora Igual.

The Victorian Government's State Electricity Commission's annual report, tabled in parliament today.

The SEC cover image not only appears for sale on the Adobe stock (below) and ALAMY image sites (below), but also appears on the websites of UK and US energy companies.

Barcelona photographer Jordi Mora Igual's photograph of engineers & wind turbines for sale on the Adobe stock image site.

The Weekly Times has asked Ms D’Ambrosio if she was concerned that the SEC was misrepresenting the Victorian renewables sector by using an image from Spain and why it had not used a Victorian wind farm image.

Opposition Energy spokesman David Davis said the SEC’s use of the Spanish image was not only “sloppy”, it showed the “SEC is in chaos”.

Former Premier Daniel Andrews and current Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio took the concept of “bringing back the SEC” to the 2022 election, stating it would lead Victoria’s renewable energy transition, be headquartered in Morwell and help create 59,000 jobs.

But its latest annual report shows just one SEC worker has been employed in Morwell, with the rest of its 45 staff in Melbourne, of whom one in five is an executive.

The annual report also shows the SEC spent more than $1.3 million on consultants in 2023-24 and that its original four board members all resigned from their positions within 12 months of being appointed.

Mr Davis said the SEC’s sole investment in the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub has lost $5 million in 2023-24.

“With millions spent on consultants, a full board turnover and a $5 million loss on its sole investment – how is the SEC delivering for Victorian households, businesses, and taxpayers?” Mr Davis said.

“The Allan Labor Government’s plan to breach competitive neutrality and force the entire public sector to purchase energy via the SEC will only mean higher costs for hospitals, schools and government agencies.

“Labor cannot manage money, cannot manage our energy system and Victorians are paying the price.”