Over the weekend, Energy Minister Eric Ripper said electricity utility Western Power would spend up to $70 million over the next decade acquiring renewable energy certificates (RECS) from green energy projects. The certificates are required to meet Federal Government targets for renewable energy use.
Mr Ripper said private sector projects such as wind farms, solar energy collection, biomass and waste treatment systems could access the money from Western Power. "Western Power's own projects are unlikely to achieve the targets set by the Office of Renewable Energy regulator which will increase every year until 2010," Mr Ripper said.
Opposition energy spokesman John Day said the plan was a "feel good-announcement" with nothing new. "Seven million dollars is hardly a massive investment," he said. "All the projects they're referring to are already in place or under way.
In the same sceptical vein, Green politician Giz Watson said the plan was just repackaging of all the things they are currently doing. "They wont tackle the big questions about massive expansion of the oil and gas industry and what we need to do about agriculture and transport needs," she said.
Conservation Council of Western Australia spokesman Phil Jennings said $70 million over 10 years is a small amount to an issue that needs a lot more attention. "This is no substitute for the Government having renewable energy and greenhouse gas policies. Most other states have them but Western Australia does not," he said.
Green energy plans are not the only Gallop Government policies being treated with a great deal of scepticism. A study by the Curtin University has found that the Government's recommendations to cap electricity prices for small businesses and homes was wasteful and could lead to Californian-style power shortages.
"It's not quite as strict a price cap as California but there is still the potential you will have those resources constraints cropping up as soon as you start using them," said Nick Willis-Johnson, a researcher for the university's Institute for Research into International Competitiveness.
The State Government plans to break up Western Power into three entities - distribution, retail and generation.
