Advance Morwell commends the Victorian Parliament’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee for establishing this important Inquiry into the closure of the Hazelwood and Yallourn Power Stations.

The Latrobe Valley in south-east Victoria has a long and proud history of brown coal mining and power generation. Its abundant brown coal resource has powered the region and Victoria for the best part of the last century, providing affordable and reliable electricity and underpinning the state’s economic growth and prosperity.

Increasing renewable energy generation and the urgent need to meet national and international emissions reduction targets, coupled with the ageing nature of the Latrobe Valley’s brown coal-fired power generators will ultimately see the retirement of these assets in the years ahead.

The closure of the Hazelwood Brown Coal Mine and Power Station in March 2017 and the projected closures of EnergyAustralia’s Yallourn and AGL’s Loy Yang assets in 2028 and 2048 respectively present one of the most significant challenges to the Latrobe Valley in its history.

The transition to a carbon-constrained economy will have undeniable impacts to the local economy and community. The safe, secure and well-paying jobs that the sector has provided to generations of

Latrobe Valley families are slowly fading.

There is an urgent need to plan for this transition to ensure that the Latrobe Valley, which has contributed so much to the state’s economic growth, continues to prosper in the decades ahead.

Read the release in full below. 

Parliamentary Inquiry into Closure of Hazelwood and Yallourn Power Stations - Advance Morwell Submission.pdf