{"id":1018575,"date":"2026-08-23T06:19:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T06:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1018575\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T06:19:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T06:19:27","slug":"labor-and-the-coalition-offer-two-very-different-plans-for-victorias-energy-supply","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1018575\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor and the Coalition offer two very different plans for Victoria’s energy supply"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victoria’s electricity supply, and where it comes from, will be on the ballot paper when voters head to the polls in November with Labor and the Coalition offering two very different outlooks.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the planned closure of Gippsland’s Yallourn coal-fired plant in 2028 the energy stakes have rarely been higher.<\/p>\n

Last year the plant, in the Latrobe Valley, provided 14.8 per cent of the state’s power.<\/p>\n

Under immense political pressure from a surging One Nation, and anger from farming communities, the Coalition has vowed to scrap VNI West<\/a>, a proposed $7.6 billion high-voltage powerline.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A map showing the VNI West route. (Supplied: VicGrid)<\/p>\n

Its backers say the project is critical and will put downwards pressure on electricity prices by bringing online more renewable energy needed to replace the likes of Yallourn.<\/p>\n

The state government has already inked a deal with Spanish firm Iberdrola to build the 240 kilometre transmission line through the Wimmera to connect Victoria with NSW, and new renewable energy projects in the region.<\/p>\n

Scrapping the project may expose Victorian taxpayers to liability payments to Iberdrola but it also draws a clear line between the major parties on energy policy 100 days out from the election.<\/p>\n

VNI West is already behind schedule by two years and will not be completed until 2030, two years after Yallourn is due to close, the Victorian Auditor-General warned last year.<\/p>\n

\"Yallourn<\/p>\n

Yallourn coal-fired power station is slated to close in 2028.\u00a0 (ABC News: William Howard)<\/p>\n

The renewable energy sector says it is “disappointed” with the decision, warning it will put in jeopardy new projects in regional Victoria, and the jobs that go with it.<\/p>\n

“Only Labor will build the critical renewable energy infrastructure, including VNI West, needed to deliver cheap power and keep the lights on as our aging coal-fired generators retire,” Energy Minister Jaclyn Symes said.<\/p>\n

“Jess Wilson’s One Nation-Coalition’s reckless decision will destroy electricity reliability across Victoria, guaranteeing blackouts and pushing up power bills.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Deputy leader of the Victorian Nationals and member for Lowan in the state’s west, Emma Kealy, has been a vocal opponent of VNI West.\u00a0 (Supplied: Emma Kealy)<\/p>\n

Coalition concerned ‘the lights will go out’<\/p>\n

Shadow Energy Minister David Davis said the decision to dump VNI West was due to hard-nosed economic pragmatism and that the project has “lost its social licence”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Davis denied the Coalition had changed its policy<\/a> due to the increased threat of One Nation winning seats off the Nationals in rural Victoria.<\/p>\n

In abandoning the transmission line \u2014 it’s also promising to pause and review another, the Western Renewables Link \u2014 the Coalition says it wants greater use of gas to provide Victoria’s energy needs.<\/p>\n

“We are very concerned the lights will go out under the current arrangements<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

” Mr Davis said.<\/p>\n

Data from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) shows in the 2025\/26 financial year gas accounted for 2.4 per cent of Victoria’s energy generation.<\/p>\n

Coal accounted for 52.5 per cent, with renewables, including rooftop solar, contributing 45.1 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Victorian government data shows for the 2025\/26 financial year renewables, including rooftop solar, accounted for 45.1 per cent of the state’s energy generation. (ABC News: Rachel Clayton)<\/p>\n

The Coalition’s election energy policy is to hold an auction for industry to propose new generation, a process where energy companies bid by offering their lowest prices.<\/p>\n

Crucially, it says the supplies will be “firm”, meaning they can be called on whenever the system needs the power.<\/p>\n

Renewable energy sources, by contrast, are known as variable because they do not generate, for example, when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining.<\/p>\n

In releasing its position, the Liberal Party insisted it would be “technologically agnostic”.<\/p>\n

However, it also added a notable caveat: “It is expected that gas-fired generation will be the most likely to provide the bulk of the necessary firming capacity.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Jess Wilson on the hustings in Gippsland.\u00a0 (Supplied: Jess Wilson)<\/p>\n

Experts and government dismiss Coalition plan for more gas\u00a0<\/p>\n

But experts, and the government, say the plan for more gas is fanciful. Gas is also a more expensive fuel than other options.<\/p>\n

“Victoria is already at some risk, not definite, that in the next few years we may very well find we’re running short of gas,” Grattan Institute energy expert Tony Wood said.<\/p>\n

“The idea that gas would be used to back up wind and solar is one thing, but the idea that gas would not just back up, but replace Yallourn and then replace Loy Yang is pretty challenging.”<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Energy company AGL plans to close Loy Yang power station by 2035. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Gavin Dufty, the national director of energy at St Vincent de Paul and a Victorian, agrees.<\/p>\n

Mr Dufty says turning to gas as a solution would be far easier said than done.<\/p>\n

Not only are the Bass Strait gas fields (which had long supplied Victoria) running dry, he says, the state’s network of gas pipelines would also need to be expanded at significant cost.<\/p>\n

“Where’s the gas in the system?” Mr Dufty said.<\/p>\n

“The Victorian gas transmission system needs to be upgraded.<\/p>\n

“But also, you need to be able to have gas \u2014 the molecules \u2014 to stick in the thing.<\/p>\n

“And we don’t have the molecules either.”<\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

The Bass Strait has long been a major source of Victoria’s gas, but supplies are depleting. (Supplied: ExxonMobil)<\/p>\n

Gas proposals for Victoria<\/p>\n

In a bid to deal with this problem, there are several proposals to provide new gas supplies to Victoria and other southern states.<\/p>\n

Chief among them is the federal government’s proposed reservation scheme, which would require Queensland LNG exporters to set aside up to 20 per cent of what they produce for the local market.<\/p>\n

But there are also plans to boost supplies much closer to home via new projects in the Bass Strait, an expansion of the Iona storage facility and the possibility of an LNG import terminal.<\/p>\n

According to Mr Dufty, the fundamental problem facing all sides is a looming crunch in electricity supplies as first Yallourn and then other coal plants exit the system.<\/p>\n

He describes Yallourn in particular as beyond rescue, saying it would be risky in the extreme to try to extend its life yet again.<\/p>\n

“At the end of the day, Victoria has got aging coal assets that are disappearing,” Mr Dufty said.<\/p>\n

“Yallourn is held together by Blu Tack and sticky tape \u2014 a strong wind would blow that away \u2014 and that’s coming out in 2028.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Yallourn Power Station in the Latrobe Valley, near Morwell. (AAP Image: Diego Fedele)<\/p>\n

While coal plants are leaving, Mr Dufty says too little new generation is coming.<\/p>\n

He notes big problems getting new large-scale wind and solar farms built despite the backing of the Commonwealth through its flagship capacity investment scheme.<\/p>\n

The scheme is designed to encourage green energy projects by underwriting revenues and making it easier for developers to get money from banks and investors.<\/p>\n

But Mr Dufty said the rocketing cost of building wind especially had stymied the scheme, meaning few projects were being built.<\/p>\n

At the same time, he says demand for power is rising, supercharged by the arrival of energy-hungry data centres needed for artificial intelligence and cloud computing.<\/p>\n

One of the few bright spots, he said, is the rampant growth in solar and battery capacity on household and business rooftops and walls.<\/p>\n

He suggests more of Victoria’s energy transition would happen at the small scale.<\/p>\n

“So, long story short, we’re losing generation and we’re increasing load (demand) and consumption,” he said.<\/p>\n

“VNI West is a small part of actually meeting that supply and demand imbalance.”<\/p>\n

Small though it may be in the grander scheme of the energy transition, VNI West has nevertheless been mired in an outsized controversy for years.<\/p>\n

Some farming communities and the Victorian Farmers Federation have been abject opponents of the project<\/a>, saying it will ruin prime agricultural land and local residents’ rights are being impeded.<\/p>\n

“Labor has spent years bulldozing through the concerns of regional communities to force VNI West onto farmers who have been treated with appalling disrespect,” Nationals Leader Danny O’Brien said<\/p>\n

Research centre ‘delighted’ Coalition will scrap the powerline project<\/p>\n

Bruce Mountain, director of the Victorian Energy Policy Centre, said he was “delighted” the Coalition would scrap VNI West.<\/p>\n

He has long argued against the project due to its massive cost and the fact Victoria was able to produce its own energy.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think the lights are going to go out,” he said.<\/p>\n

He also did not think it was plausible to have base load gas unless the gas price came down significantly.<\/p>\n

Dr Mountain said VNI West was not needed to replace Yallourn when it closed, saying the loss in generation could be offset by more renewables, less power exports interstate and working the remaining coal plants in the Latrobe Valley harder.<\/p>\n

The Clean Energy Council attacked the Coalition’s plans saying the opposition were only motivated by politics.<\/p>\n

“We need more energy, not less energy,” chief executive Jackie Trad said.<\/p>\n

“And without a credible replacement to VNI West, we don’t have companies building the type of generation that will see Victoria thrive for the next 50 years.<\/p>\n

“So this will put a brake on a lot of renewable energy development in our state at a time that regions are crying out for more economic development.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victoria’s electricity supply, and where it comes from, will be on the ballot paper when voters head to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1018576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[75726,407661,69423,147226,24071,746,148451,407660,35115,17127,126566,17364,162361,159,67,132,68,407662,407659,407658],"class_list":["post-1018575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-bass-strait","tag-clean-energy-council","tag-coalition","tag-david-davis","tag-electricity","tag-environment","tag-iberdrola","tag-jaclyn-symes","tag-latrobe-valley","tag-liberal-party","tag-lng","tag-nsw","tag-one-nation","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-victorian-farmers-federation","tag-wimmera","tag-yallourn-power-station"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117143378051660463","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1018575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1018576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1018575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1018575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1018575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}