Art by Syaifulptak
By Jo Nova
Queensland has opened the veil of Sauron — toying with planetary ostracism, death, fire, and cosmic doom.
The State Government shattered the taboo, asking: “Should we build the pumped hydro to bend the jet streams — or save $26 billion dollars and keep the coal plants instead?
In a brave move they added up the costs of storing sacred green electrons in an artificial lake upon the mount, and decided they’d rather save the money and just stick with perfectly serviceable, reliable coal plants. Turn on the lights.
This move will save every household in Queensland $1000.
Somewhere, a thousand bureaucrats are shrieking. The government are summoning forbidden megawatts from the underworld. They’re calling back the black fire! And not just for a few cowardly years, but for two whole decades. The oracles of Paris will not forgive this.
Queensland scraps Labor power plan in favour of ‘$26bn cheaper option’
By Sarah Elks, The Australian
Queenslanders will be saved $26bn – or $1000 a household – by keeping coal-fired power stations open for longer and scrapping or downsizing enormous pumped hydro schemes, Treasury analysis suggests.
Energy Minister David Janetzki said the new Treasury modelling indicated the former Labor government’s renewable energy plan – which hinged on building one of the world’s biggest pumped hydro facilities in north Queensland – would have cost the state $86bn in capital expenditure to 2035.
The big danger in messing with the delicate Green social conditioning is that if word gets out, this kind of rampant clear-thinking might spread.
If the e-Safety commissioner doesn’t ban discussion of cheap coal plants fast enough, other states will hear about this. Consider the state next door, where the owners of Tomago Aluminium Smelter just gave warning that they will have to close down because electricity costs are too high. They’re not waiting for New South Wales to build another 50 Gigawatts of wind and solar, Rio Tinto just don’t see any future where electricity is cheaper.
If only we had vast brown coal seams, or the worlds largest uranium deposit…?
Tomago on death row and due to close in 2028 with no end in sight to high energy costs
By Brad Thompson, The Australian
Rio Tinto is preparing to make a final call on the future of the Tomago aluminium smelter and its more than a thousand workers which could be out of a job by 2028.
The mining giant, its partners and the New South Wales and federal governments cannot solve the problem of high east coast energy prices that make the smelter an unviable future prospect.
A legacy coal power supply contract with AGL Energy expires in three years’ time, at which point Tomago will likely shut forever. To stay in business, it is faced with paying twice as much for its electricity needs beyond that date, a scenario that Rio and its partners are unlikely to support.
If Queensland doesn’t turn into horned turnip or a snivelling hunchback, other states might get the crazy idea that they can do this too.
Especially when the businesses move to Queensland…