TWO of the region's local government leaders have thrown their support behind New England MP Barnaby Joyce's calls for greater power security for the region.
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Tamworth mayor Col Murray and Gunnedah mayor Jamie Chaffey have echoed the former Deputy Prime Minister's calls for projects including gas, coal fired and nuclear energy to be explored in the region.
Cr Murray said he believed nuclear power could be a real option for the region and should be investigated.
"In my opinion, which isn't that of the council as a whole, I think it is critically important for us to be competitive with energy pricing because we are not there at the moment," Cr Murray said.
"The subsidies that appear to be necessary to encourage renewables are not going to give us any competitive advantage with energy pricing.
"For me that leaves things like gas, modern-technology coal powered energy and I certainly think we are ready to seriously consider nuclear power.
"I think that is a very real option because when you look at the challenges in terms of emissions that are related to the other energy sources, nuclear is one of the better ones, is a real option and one that should be investigated."
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Cr Chaffey said he believed creating more energy projects in the region would have many benefits.
"My personal view, which is my own and not an endorsed view of the Gunnedah Shire Council, is that it is critical for the further development of the Gunnedah shire that we guarantee baseload power and affordable power," Cr Chaffey said.
"The only way for us to drive the price down is supply and demand.
"You will never get a better way to do that than having your own power station close by to service the needs of this community.
"Personally, I would be very supportive of using the high-quality coal that is produced within the shire to power a high-energy, low-emissions (HELE) coal-fired power plant.
"We already see the benefit of the industry in our shire from an employment point of view, but why not take it to the next level and utlilise that coal locally to produce efficient power that will guarantee baseload power, affordable pricing for power and job creation in the long term."
A Narrabri Shire Council spokesperson said the council didn't "provide blanket endorsement to any industry" and would judge each energy project "on its merits".
"Council doesn't provide blanket endorsement to any industry, whether it be solar farms, gas fields or coal mines," the spokesperson said.
"We judge every project on its merits and we are unashamedly parochial.
"What we will say is we believe that the days of Australia simply exporting raw materials to the world should be behind us, we must foster advanced manufacturing onshore and Narrabri Shire is well positioned to play a central part in this."
Cr Chaffey said he was open to all avenues of energy, not just coal and gas.
"I personally believe we should be looking at all different mixes of power supply," he said.
"No power source should be mutually exclusive and we should be considering all power sources because it comes down to supply and demand.
"Whether that be renewable, nuclear, gas or whether it be a HELE power station.
"I think everything should be considered, just as long as it meets the requirements that are set down by the state and federal governments to bring down the cost of power."
