Thousands of Melbourne families who have tried to do the right thing for the environment by installing solar panels are missing out on promised savings, or even ending up with higher power bills, because of the dumb design of the Brumby government’s so-called ‘smart meters’, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources Robert Clark said today. [...]

Today’s revelation that the Brumby Government’s renewable energy scheme has fallen short by more than 35 per cent in its promised increase in renewable energy use is further proof that Labor cannot keep its promises to Victorian families. The Essential Services Commission has today released the 2008 Annual Report on the Victorian Renewable Energy Target [...]

The Victorian Liberal Nationals Coalition has secured significant improvements to the Brumby Government’s solar feed-in scheme. Under an agreement reached with the Coalition, the government has amended the scheme so that: • businesses, farms, schools, community facilities and other non-residential customers can qualify for the 60c/kilowatt (kW) feed-in tariff if their annual electricity consumption is [...]

The personal threat against the CEO of International Power Hazelwood is further evidence that environmental extremists are posing a serious danger to both the safety of power industry employees and the security of Victoria’s power supplies. “Labor needs to take urgent action to upgrade power supply security and increase penalties for those who illegally enter [...]

The Brumby Government must explain why it failed to provide a copy of the Review of the April 08 Windstorm to the Bureau of Meteorology, even though a key recommendation of the review required action by Bureau, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources Robert Clark said today. “Yesterday, the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission heard evidence [...]

The report into the emergency services response to last April’s windstorms and power blackouts, released without announcement by the government last week, raises serious issues about how well emergency services were prepared for summer’s tragic bushfires, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources Robert Clark said today. The Review of the April 08 Windstorm Melbourne, Victoria [...]

Today’s bomb scare at a Ringwood electricity sub-station shows once again the continued failure of the Brumby government to act to improve the security of our electricity supply system and other critical infrastructure. Concerns are made even greater by reports that the electricity company in question was unable to get in contact with the Victoria [...]

Families in some Melbourne suburbs are being hit with big electricity price hikes – the same families that suffered most from last month’s substation malfunction which brought Melbourne to a standstill. Half a million homes and businesses in places including St Albans, Essendon, Pascoe Vale, Werribee, Niddrie and Point Cook were without power, and all [...]

Monday 2 February 2009 – The Brumby Government must stop making excuses for Victoria’s recurrent power blackouts, and take action to actually fix the problem, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources Robert Clark said today. “The government says it is not responsible because the blackouts have been due to ‘extreme weather events’ and climate change. [...]

The so-called “smart meters” announced by the Brumby Government today are behind schedule, will lack vital features, and will be expensive for consumers, Shadow Minister for Energy and Resources Robert Clark said today. The smart meter roll-out will not include most of the features customers need to manage their power use and greenhouse emissions, or [...]