The Nationals Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, says the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) is demanding emergency powers to shut down rooftop solar power – in every state.
Mr Walsh says he had to read the AEMO news several times to grasp the message – and its blatant condemnation of the “stupidity of the Allan Labor government’s green energy fantasy”.
He says according to AEMO – the organisation in charge of the nation’s largest electricity grid – it simply can’t cope and neither can the power network.
“Here you have it, green energy has sent power costs soaring, our coal-fired options are being mothballed and gas is considered the new plague but the people at the frontline of power, and the power system itself, have had enough,” Mr Walsh says.
“In its urgent appeal for government intervention – as if government had not already intervened enough – AEMO says it needs ‘emergency backstop’ powers to slow down, or shut right off, rooftop solar power,” he says.
“Get this, AEMO says the constantly growing output from solar is threatening the safety and security of the grid because it is pushing out all other forms of generation needed to help keep the system stable.
“In AEMO’s own words, unless it stops, we face system collapse.”
Mr Walsh says AEMO forecasts confirm what the Liberals Nationals have been warning for years – for half the year solar energy has great potential, but when the sun doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow, we need coal and gas.
He says the Allan Labor government has rushed us headlong into a catastrophe.
“Go solar, go wind, go crazy has been Jacinta Allan’s catchcry, but in typical Labor fashion we have the cart before the horse,” Mr Walsh adds.
“We do not have the infrastructure to make any of this work, we just have a trendy headline opportunity. As summer heats up, rooftop electricity production soars, and there is now nowhere for it to go,” he says.
“So it’s either shut down the rooftop industry or shut down the power stations. And when that happens it will be a disaster, because you can’t just switch those back on.
“This is where all Victorians start paying for the Allan Labor government’s sustainable lies – the system isn’t there, the planning isn’t there and the infrastructure money is disappearing down massive holes in Melbourne and into the pockets of the Allan Labor government’s corrupt CFMEU allies.
“Labor can’t manage money, can’t manage the economy and now is threatening to black out the state as the mercury soars and we all want to switch on the airconditioners.”
