Weeks prior to the state’s election, the Labor government is pledging $1 billion (US$628 million) to revive Victoria’s State Electricity Commission (SEC) to fast-track the state’s net-zero push.
Under the plan, the SEC will be directed to spend that money on building renewable energy projects to provide 4.5 gigawatts of power aimed at replacing the closure of the Loy Yang coal-fired power plant in the region.
Those new projects, which will include wind and solar plants, will be 51 percent owned by Victorian taxpayers and the remaining 49 percent earmarked for the pension (superannuation) industry.
The Labor government has also set big new renewable energy targets including a pledge for 95 percent of Victoria—6.68 million people—to be powered by renewable energy sources by 2035. A more ambitious plan than fellow Labor-run state Queensland, which aims for 80 percent of the state to be backed by renewable energy by the same year….