Editorial: AEMO's 'more transparent' grid could be a way out of the renewable versus coal energy maze

On one hand, those leading the charge for change say we have wasted too many years arguing about the shift to renewables, when there wasn't a minute to spare.

Some opposed change for ideological reasons, caring little for climate change.

Others, such as the electricity dependent aluminium industry, warned that precipitous shuttering of coal-fired power stations risked big price rises and blackouts.

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There has rarely been a middle ground in this debate, but a speech yesterday by the new head of the Australian Energy Market Operator, Daniel Westerman, may be a signpost to a middle road forward.

Mr Westerman was attacked in response by Resources Minister Kevin Pitt for suggesting renewables could provide all of our power as soon as 2025.

Even the ultra-optimists see this as highly unlikely.

But Mr Westerman also expressed support for Snowy Hydro's Kurri Kurri plant, saying gas would be part of the solution for some time to come.

His call for the power sector "to be more open, more transparent, more collaborative" is important, because for all of the talk of lost time, the reality is that Australia, by some measures, is well ahead of the global curve in the renewables transition.

Mr Westerman's comment, that "this is uncharted territory for a large, independent grid anywhere in the world", shows not only the size of the challenge, but the big steps already taken to get to this point.

As the voice of a region with jobs on the line in this transition, the Newcastle Herald welcomes a commitment to more transparency and openness in the power debate.

Snowy Hydro's Novocastrian chief executive Paul Broad has a history of outspoken commentary, but his description today of the power debate as captured by "woke" forces can be read as a sign of frustration at what he and others with hard, industrial backgrounds see as a major gap between reality and perception.

The Herald saw a small example of this gap yesterday when the Australian Energy Market Commission said "100 per cent renewable generation has already occurred in South Australia".

It may have, briefly, but AEMO's records show the state relying on gas for between a quarter and two-thirds of its power for the past year.

We welcome the energy transition.

But the scale of the job cannot be under-estimated, or brushed under the carpet.

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