Canadian firm Vermilion has repeatedly failed to comply with mandated environmental protection measures, despite repeated proddings from the regulator NOPSEMA.
Chief executive Bill Oplinger told Wall Street the miner had responded to all 60,000 comments on its WA expansion plans—in fact, it responded to fewer than 10, and some were unacceptable.
The WA government will soon decide whether Black Mountain Energy can frack 20 wells near the Kimberley's Fitzroy River, but promised measures to protect the environment and the rights of local people are not yet in place.
Synergy is a WA State Government-owned power generator and retailer operating on the South West grid. It has a monopoly on supply to households and small businesses, two coal-fired power stations in Collie and numerous gas-fired power stations. Through Bright Energy Investments it has interests in wind and solar farms.
South West WA's power grid reached a record 91 per cent peak renewable energy share in December - driven by 1,225 MW of new battery storage - while wholesale power prices fell 13 per cent and carbon emissions dropped 15 per cent as coal and gas generation declined.
The state-owned utility needs to replace the generation capacity it will lose by closing down all its coal-fired power stations over the next four years.
WA's EPA is now restraining growth in carbon emissions from industry but it and State and Federal Governments need to do more to keep the State attractive to increasingly climate-concerned investors.
WA energy policy in Labor's second term may have to tackle tough issues avoided so far, including tariffs, Collie's future, the role of gas, and a path to net-zero by 2050.
WA energy minister Bill Johnston sees no current alternative to gas for dispatchable power and wants to use low prices to lure more gas-hungry investments to WA
Solar is "an uncontrollable generation source" making life hard for operators of the South West grid, according to an annual review of the network by operator AEMO.
South West WA's power system may get two $100M big batteries to help handle rooftop solar growth with Alinta planning an investment at its Wagerup power station.
WA's industrial greenhouse gas emissions are dominated by four products and a handful of companies, including a few that have managed to keep a low profile in the climate wars.
The Liberals know where to take WA energy but probably not how to do it. Labor is on top of the detail but shy of facing the inevitable. So close to a bipartisan approach, will our political class blow it?
Rooftop solar will make South-West WA power greener, but there is no path outlined for Collie's future or to net-zero by 2050, according to a WA Government study.
