Expensive decision
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Tuesday, 10 October, 2000 - 21:00
A RECENT newspaper report indicated the value of the deal to supply electricity to the West Kimberley at $600 million over an 18-year period should sound the alarm bells.
Six hundred million dollars over 18 years for gas as opposed to $350 million over 120 years for tidal.
Factor in for tidal the $80 million from the Commonwealth and $40 million from taking over disused Western Power plants and you don’t have to be a bachelor of economics to see which is the better deal.
Add to that the escalating world oil price, to which gas is indexed, and who knows how much more Western Australians will be paying for electricity?
I say Western Australians because the current situation where Perth consumers subsidise the Kimberley will continue under the Government’s proposed gas option.
Under the tidal proposal it will diminish until it vanishes.
Here we have a State Govern-ment that flies in the face of the best technical, environmental and financial expertise (Federal Cabinet Due Diligence Study team) which advises that tidal power is a better option and instead they pick gas.
I would ask all Western Australians to write to the Premier and Cabinet ministers urging them to reject the more expensive, polluting, short-term option and instead select the clean, renewable, infinitely cheaper tidal power option.
Six hundred million dollars over 18 years for gas as opposed to $350 million over 120 years for tidal.
Factor in for tidal the $80 million from the Commonwealth and $40 million from taking over disused Western Power plants and you don’t have to be a bachelor of economics to see which is the better deal.
Add to that the escalating world oil price, to which gas is indexed, and who knows how much more Western Australians will be paying for electricity?
I say Western Australians because the current situation where Perth consumers subsidise the Kimberley will continue under the Government’s proposed gas option.
Under the tidal proposal it will diminish until it vanishes.
Here we have a State Govern-ment that flies in the face of the best technical, environmental and financial expertise (Federal Cabinet Due Diligence Study team) which advises that tidal power is a better option and instead they pick gas.
I would ask all Western Australians to write to the Premier and Cabinet ministers urging them to reject the more expensive, polluting, short-term option and instead select the clean, renewable, infinitely cheaper tidal power option.