I am joining with my Labor colleague Adam Searle MLC, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy,in condemning the Berejiklian Government for its lack of commitment to renewable energy in our State.

In the Climate Councils 2019 State Of Play: Renewable Energy Leaders and Losers report, NSW lags behind most other jurisdictions - being ranked sixth out of the eight States and Territories.

Adam Searle MLC said the result was an embarrassment for NSW:



This is a complete embarrassment for the Premier and for NSW. This shows that the Liberals and Nationals dont have a plan for renewables in NSW. They are failing to deliver cheaper renewable energy to local households, and failing to capture the jobs boom renewable energy investment would bring.



In Australia, renewable energy generation has reached just 19 per cent, but NSW has fallen behind with only 17.3 per cent of renewables, and wind and solar contributing less than 9 per cent of the States overall energy mix.

NSW has some of the best solar resources in the world, but of the 47 suburbs identified by the report where more than half of all households have solar installed, only 3 are in NSW.



Adam has said,

A key reason for NSWs lack of progress is were one of only two States in Australia without a renewable energy target. The Liberals and Nationals should give the industry investment certainty and commit to a target. A renewable energy target would drive billions of dollars of investment in NSW and create thousands of new, well-paying jobs. As our ageing fleet of coal fired power stations becomes increasingly unreliable, it is urgent that NSW develop a plan to ensure that reliable, affordable and dispatchable energy projects are built on time.



The Climate Councils series of annual reports has consistently shown NSW to be a poor performer on developing the clean, new energy sources we need for the next generation of electricity supply.

I join Adam in calling for the Government to take pro-active action now.



You can read the Climate Council's report here.