Nice, from AGL:
AGL Energy said it will lock workers out from its Loy Yang A power station and shut its operations down indefinitely from May 15 after failing to resolve an enterprise bargaining dispute which has dragged on for more than two years.
The closure of the black-coal power station and mine – which follows on from the de-commissioning of the nearby Hazelwood power station in March – has raised concerns there could be potential power shortages across the National Electricity Market.
AGL’s Loy Yang A power station powers about 30 per cent of Victoria’s power needs – or about 2 million homes – each year.
The Andrews Government is in motion:
The state government will go to the Fair Work Commission to prevent workers at Victoria’s biggest energy plant going on strike and plunging the state into an energy crisis.
“The protracted negotiations between AGL and its workforce commenced in 2015 and must be resolved,” Industrial Relations Minister Natalie Hutchins said.
Coal has dominated the National Energy Market, but the closure of Hazelwood power station heralds a potential transition to renewables.
“The government will ask the Fair Work Commission to terminate this protected industrial action before any closure can occur.”
For the second time since Christmas, energy producer and retailer AGL has threatened to lock out the entire workforce and shut down its Loy Yang A power plant in the Latrobe Valley over proposed union action.
The Loy Yang coal-fired power plant and mine, which together provide more than half of Victoria’s energy fuel, would be shut down from Monday, May 15.
It’s a move that has been likened to the “Qantas option”, which refers to the airline’s two-day lockout in 2011 when it grounded its entire fleet after long-running industrial action.
This is a giant bluff to break the union by exploiting the current gas crisis. The plant would be immensely profitable right now and is scheduled to continue into the 2040s.
Frankly, if it did not put lives at risk I would love to see it go ahead and watch AGL’s fortune’s crash.
