The NSW Coalition has promised to scrap the State Government’s proposed 500-kilovolt transmission lines from Walcha to Bayswater and cap the New England Renewable Energy Zone at its current level if elected.
Upper Hunter MP Dave Layzell, who has been a vocal opponent of the transmission line project, said the business case for large-scale renewable energy on farmland had collapsed due to a lack of community support.
“There are no takers for future wind and solar projects in the New England area and the New England transmission project would have been left as a white elephant,” Layzell said.
“It is time to put an end to the lines that are tormenting people’s lives.”
Layzell said the cost of the project had spiralled out of control, arguing the State Government was content to pass the financial burden onto future generations. He said the more he examined the project’s business case, the less it stacked up.
“I can guarantee you they would be scrapping this project themselves and finding another way if it was their money now,” he said.
The Coalition’s alternative centres on the creation of City Renewable Energy Zones across Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. The plan would incentivise owners of large industrial and commercial buildings to install rooftop solar, feeding power into community batteries for distribution to homes and businesses. Layzell described it as a smaller-scale, replicable model that could be rolled out across cities and country towns.
Layzell acknowledged the work of community groups including the Upper Hunter Responsible Infrastructure Group, Rouchel Brook Action Group and Walcha High Country Guardians, whose petition of more than 22,000 signatures opposing the transmission lines is set to be debated in Parliament today.
The State Government committed $2.2 billion to the Hunter Transmission Project in this week’s State Budget. The Coalition has not specified a timeline for delivering the city REZ plan if elected.
