The WA government is delaying the closure of a coal-fired power station after a report revealed the state could face a shortfall in electricity supply by 2025.
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00:00 Keeping Mujah 6 on to keep WA's lights on.
00:05 For the Boston family, who've worked with coal for generations,
00:09 six months won't change much.
00:11 Relatively small fry, yeah.
00:13 And they're not convinced it'll be the last extension.
00:15 A lot of it's kind of up in the air about how long things are going to last.
00:21 The region calling for certainty.
00:23 State government probably was premature in announcing the closure of the Collie Power Stations.
00:29 When it did, I think our concerns are that there isn't still a good detailed plan sitting behind that transition.
00:36 The Energy Minister says work is underway to meet future demand.
00:40 NAO and is currently building a battery in Collie as a response to the Australian Energy Market Operator.
00:45 And Alinta Energy is just today announcing that they're also going to build a battery at Wadra
00:51 in response to the Australian Energy Market Operator.
00:53 But those projects were already factored into AMO's forecasts.
00:57 We are seeing growth in our large industrial loads and indeed new loads
01:00 for things like new lithium mines and processing facilities in the state.
01:03 Population growth, air conditioning and electric vehicles also playing a role.
01:08 I just remind people that the Energy Market Operator's report is called a statement of opportunity.
01:14 That's the reason we do it that way, because these are the opportunities for investment here in Western Australia.
01:20 The solution from the government is simply to hope that the private sector will step in and save the day.
01:25 Connection delays and inadequate transmission infrastructure are barriers to investment.
01:30 We're competing with New South Wales and Victoria and America and Europe for all of these assets
01:37 and for all of these pieces of equipment and they're not dilly-dallying, but we are.
01:43 But the government insists investment and jobs are on the way.
01:47 [ Silence ]