THE Northern Tablelands will be turned in to a renewable energy hub in an ambitious plan by the Greens, who want to create a publicly-owed energy retailer.
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The party said the policy would drive down power prices and bring jobs to regional communities, as it announced the state election policy in Armidale on Wednesday.
Greens MP David Shoebridge said the publicly-owned 100 per cent renewable energy retailer, PowerNSW, would save the average customer more than $200 a year.
"It’s time we stopped talking about the renewable energy revolution, it’s time we built it," Mr Shoebridge said.
Along with the Northern Tablelands, PowerNSW would be supplied by three other renewable hubs, along with Broken Hill, the Central West and the Riverina.
They would be funded by a Regional Clean Infrastructure Fund, which would be established to invest in building the publicly-owned "electricity grid of the future".
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"Targeted investment in new network capacity will help deliver renewable energy to the rest of the state and build jobs in regional communities," Mr Shoebridge said.
Greens Northern Tablelands candidate Dorothy Robinson said the electorate was the ideal location for wind, solar and hydro.
"Our region is already generating three times as much electricity as we use," the Armidale councillor said.
"With proper planning to assist the renewable energy investments already proposed for this area, we could become a real powerhouse for NSW."
Cr Robinson said the Greens were listening to the advice of experts in the field, rather than the "political spin and dogma of the gas and coal lobbies".
"Wholesale electricity prices are set by the Australian Energy Market, and the energy market operator tells us that coal-fired power on its way out sooner rather than later, because the economics no longer stack up," she said.
"If we don't move forward and plan for the future, we risk black-outs as those ageing and increasingly unreliable plants are retired. This is the advice of the energy market operator."
Mr Shoebridge said the Greens were anticipating a minority government, and planned to make the policy a linchpin in any government-forming agreement.