Recommendation 1
5.16 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government adopt a comprehensive
energy transition plan, including reform of the National Electricity Market
rules.
Recommendation 2
5.17 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government, in consultation with
industry, community, union and other stakeholders, develop a mechanism for the
orderly retirement of coal fired power stations to be presented to the COAG
Energy Council.
Recommendation 3
5.18 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government, through representation on
the COAG Energy Council, put in place a pollution reduction objective
consistent with Australia's obligations under the Paris Agreement in the
National Electricity Objectives.
Recommendation 4
5.19 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government establish an energy
transition authority with sufficient powers and resources to plan and
coordinate the transition in the energy sector, including a Just Transition for
workers and communities.
Recommendation 5
5.24 The
committee recommends:
- That the Australian
Government commission a comprehensive and independent assessment of the health
impacts of coal fired power stations.
- That the Australian
Government develop a load-based licencing arrangement for coal fired power
stations for adoption at COAG based on the New South Wales Load-Based Licencing
scheme, with fees that reflect the health impacts and other externalities of
power station emissions.
- That the Australian
Government take additional measures to ensure compliance with the standards set
in the National Environmental Protection (Air Quality) Measure and ‑ in
the case of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide ‑ international best
practice standards. In regions where these standards are exceeded such as the
Hunter and Latrobe Valleys, coal fired power stations must be compelled to
reduce emissions to levels below the NEPM standards.
- That the Australian
Government ensure a more rigorous assessment of power station emissions through
an independent audit of reports provided through the National Pollutant
Inventory.
Recommendation 6
5.27 The
committee recommends that the Commonwealth and state energy ministers should
undertake a national audit of likely rehabilitation costs for existing coal
mines and power stations and assess these costs against the current provisions
or bond arrangements.
5.28 The
committee recommends that the Commonwealth and state energy ministers should
also work to develop a common approach to setting rehabilitation bonds to
ensure that rehabilitation costs are properly provisioned for.
Recommendation 7
5.34 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government continue and expand the
Renewable Energy Target beyond 2020 and consider adopting renewable energy reverse
auctions such as adopted by the ACT to bring more new generation into the
national electricity market.
5.35 The
committee also recommends that the Australian Government support the continuing
deployment grid level battery storage and of household solar and battery
storage technologies, including making the necessary regulatory changes, such
as aligning the settlement and bidding time periods in the National Electricity
Market, to encourage the utilisation of products that promote decentralisation of
electricity production while enhancing the stability of the grid.
Recommendation 8
5.40 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government commit to not provide any
direct funding, subsidies or other support for the construction of new coal
fired power stations in Australia.
Recommendation 9
5.43 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government reverse its ideological
opposition to the introduction of a scheme for managing the transition in the
electricity sector such as an Emissions Intensity Scheme or the setting of
pollution intensity standards and commit to considering fairly all policy
options presented by the forthcoming final report of the Finkel Review.
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