As the industrial sprawl of green energy marches across the government-identified Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), Gannawarra Shire Councillor Garner Smith has renewed his call for negotiating lasting benefits from the VNI West project and renewable developments for Gannawarra residents.

The Draft Victorian Transmission Plan identifying most of the Gannawarra Shire LGA for industrial renewable investigation.

“Personally, I do not see an overall long-term benefit for communities like Gannawarra, out of either the VNI West power line or the renewable projects. Little to no long-term employment, unattractive infrastructure on a scale that the community does not comprehend and a benefits package that lacks detail and sounds more like welfare than an opportunity.

“There has been a lot of hollow statements about VNI West and renewables being ‘game changers’ and the ‘biggest development since irrigation’, especially from a Gannawarra mayor and CEO. It is time we turn empty promises into practical reality. If we cannot, then we should oppose this project.”

Other developments have also seen diminishing support for the often foreign-owned companies behind ‘big renewable’. Ark Energy shelved its proposed Doughboy Wind Farm due to ‘change of mind’ by landholders, with a Clean Energy Council director recently stating that only 60 per cent of projects that gain approval end up being constructed.

It’s not the first time that Cr Smith has attempted to have community benefits enshrined for the Gannawarra Shire residents who will soon be staring at not only VNI West transmission line covering an estimated 5,000 hectares of the shire, but also the potential of a new 230km 220kV overhead line from Kerang to Red Cliffs, and industrial renewable sites under investigation for almost 20 per cent of the total shire area. Having VNI West and the associated terminal station has ensured almost 90 per cent of Gannawarra Shire is listed as Tier 1 and Tier 2 areas of industrial renewable interest in the Draft Victorian Transmission plan.

“In September 2023, I gave council the platform to negotiate a lasting benefit for Gannawarra when I moved that our support for VNI West depended on Gannawarra getting the electricity produced in Gannawarra at the feed-in tariff. According to wind turbine proponents, that was 5 cents a kilowatt hour when the wind blew.

“Even if we add on retail administration, that will provide power for Gannawarra at a fraction of what we pay now. Instead, we got a motion with weak direction that ignored the lack of benefit of VNI West. I have recently learned that council has achieved nothing from that motion. It was a waste of a motion.

“Local use of power benefits everyone. People, business and industry will make use of a cheap resource and relocate to Gannawarra. The generators will get paid the same, we export less power to capital cities hundreds of kilometres away, reducing transmission losses and freeing up capacity on existing and new infrastructure.”

Cr Smith said that the issue we are facing is mirrored across many rural areas.

“At the Rural Council Victoria forum in Trawool, there was a panel with political pollster Kos Samaras, Foundation for Rural and Regional Victoria CEO Natalie Egleton and NFF president David Jochinke.

“The panel discussed renewable energy proposals for rural Victoria. The key points were clear, especially from Kos and Natalie. There was “inequity in story – community was not benefitting from renewables”, “What is in it for us? That conversation is not happening”, “Communities are not equipped, not resourced”, “How do we turn it into an opportunity and not a threat?” and “Those in power [government] have not come to the table – roll out significant funds.”

“It was progress when the Latrobe Valley was developed to provide cheap, reliable power and the network was built. The power industry provided direct employment for hundreds of people in Gippsland, year on year, for generations. The rest of Victoria benefitted, with industry getting on with business and households having the security of some of the world’s lowest priced power.

“We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to negotiate real benefits for Gannawarra. If we get it wrong, that opportunity will be lost forever.”

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 22 August 2024.