Latest news with #AMEC
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Miners erupts over major renewables projects as AMEC calls for national coordination to solve battles over land access
Renewable energy projects seeking exclusive access to large swathes of land are 'sterilising resources in the ground' by denying mining groups access, an industry leader has warned. The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies commissioned a report highlighting mounting tensions between the mining industry and the tidal wave of renewable energy projects as they compete for access to the same land. AMEC's report calls for a 'coordinated' approach to accessing land and for the same pieces of land to be accessed by multiple industries where appropriate. The association estimates Australia's land mass would need to be double its current size to deliver exclusive rights to all land users, which includes agriculture, mining and pastoral industries such as poultry farming and livestock grazing. AMEC's chief executive Warren Pearce said players behind renewables projects were vying for exclusive use of the land to avoid what they perceived as 'inconvenience or potential interference'. He noted the mining, agriculture and pastoral industries had historically faced challenges over land access and established practices that enabled each sector to co-exist on the same land. 'That can happen with renewables too,' Mr Pearce told Business Now. 'Renewable projects are absolutely huge. They are massive land users. Think about the size of wind farms. To build a mine is going to take up less than one per cent of that wind farm. 'It's quite easy to imagine that windfarm going ahead with having that little bit excised out.' Mr Pearce said renewable project developers were seeking exclusive tenure and certainty of land access and would 'often cut out' other land users. 'We're seeing expiration projects extinguished before they begin without any real certainty that the renewable project will ever be built or invested in,' he said. 'That's a real problem. We're sterilising resource in the ground before we find out if they're there or not.' Contributions from Australia's major land-based industries – which added $493b to the economy in 2024 – are under threat from these practices, according to the AMEC-commissioned report. The report stressed that a 'coordinated national policy response' can turn the 'emerging crisis' into an 'opportunity for cooperation'. Mr Pearce said each state and territory has a different approach to managing land access, creating difficulties for land management. 'One of the things that's concerning is you've got major global renewable proponents talking to multiple state and territorial governments, but with only the investment capital to invest in one project,' he said. 'We're actually locking up land without any idea whether these projects will move forward because the states and territories aren't talking to each other. 'We need coordination. We need a national response.' Mr Pearce's comments come as about a dozen green hydrogen projects have either failed or been delayed over the past year. One Australian project from Andrew Forrest's Fortescue recently went under, while energy giant BP last month scrapped a $54b project in Western Australia.
West Australian
7 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Better together: Push for Federal Government to force mining and green energy to co-exist
Australia might be known as the great southern land, but an escalating fight for space has industry leaders calling for the Federal Government to intervene to ensure mining and renewable energy projects can co-exist. A new report by the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies is warning that priority access for green energy developers is putting the lucrative mining industry at risk, thrusting the issue on the agenda ahead of this month's national economic roundtable. 'We have many more competing uses for the land, no consistent rules and established industries that provide the foundational base of our economy forced to play second fiddle,' AMEC chief executive Warren Pearce said. 'It's paralysing mining development, sterilising resources and it's entirely avoidable.' The AMEC report, Congested & Contested - Co-existence The Key to Unlocking Productivity, warns that tax and royalty revenue of $493 billion is at stake, due to 'uncertainty, delays and conflict' over land use. It reports that a preference for exclusive rights is locking mining exploration out, including in WA's Mid-West. Toolonga Mineral Sand's tenements for coccolith chalk near Kalbarri were terminated, to make way for the foreign-owned Murchison Green Hydrogen Project that has been awarded major project status from the Federal Government and received $814 million in Headstart funding. 'We have stated that we we can coexist. But no, the Minister has ignored that request,' Toolonga Mineral Sands managing director Ann Conlan-Nash said. 'As far as the Murchison green hydrogen project, we know that they're not going to do anything up there for probably five to six years. 'We could have been moving forward since 2020. It's been five years that we've been waiting, fighting.' AMEC said it's an example of the rush to renewable energy 'running roughshod' over regional communities and risking a backlash from locals. The AMEC report found meeting demand from both industries would require an equivalent of 'two Australia's' if exclusive rights are applied to all 77 million square kilometres of land. Mr Pearce said the solution was diversification leases that had been attempted, but not often taken up, in WA. 'This has actually become a really big problem in regional WA,' he said. 'Despite the fact that all of these renewable energy project proponents say they don't require exclusive licences, not one of them are using the diversification leases. They're opting for a section 79 lease which provides exclusive tenure. 'It means they're pursuing a path that tries to lock out other users and that's the worst possible outcome.' He's lobbying for a national model, to ensure consistency and offer investors certainty. 'Everyone benefits, because the highest value land use is multiple land use,' Mr Pearce said. 'The reality is you can do these things without actually ruining the overall purpose or economic benefit of the wind farm. 99 per cent of it will remain untouched. You just need to take a piece out of it. 'That piece creates jobs, taxation, revenues and, of course, royalties, as well as what's going on with the wind farm.'
ABC News
7 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Move to exempt miners from paying rates on miscellaneous licenses 'concerning'
The WA Local Government Association (WALGA) says it is "gravely concerned" about the state government's move to exempt mining companies from paying rates on miscellaneous licenses. Local Government and Acting Mines and Petroleum Minister Hannah Beazley announced a "swift" amendment to the Local Government Act after the Supreme Court granted a Midwest shire the right to rate one mining company. In July, the Shire of Mount Magnet, about 570 kilometres north-east of Perth, won a Supreme Court appeal which allowed it to levy rates on land covered by vanadium miner Atlantic's "miscellaneous licences". Miscellaneous licenses are typically levied on land with mining infrastructure such as access roads and accommodation sites. Atlantic will appeal the decision, with backing from the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) and the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy. The ruling opened the door for other local governments to scrutinise miscellaneous license holders, a move which the mining sector said could cost it $55 million a year. Ms Beazley said the government would amend the Act "to uphold the status quo". "The state government, local governments and mining companies have for decades understood that land under miscellaneous licences was not rateable," she said. Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) chief executive Warren Pearce said miscellaneous licences had always been considered exempt from rates under the Local Government Act. "That's been the understanding for the last 50 years," Mr Pearce said. WALGA president Karen Chapel said the government's decision threatened the judicial process. "It's an extraordinary step for the state government to introduce legislation to undermine a Supreme Court decision," she said. Ms Chapel said mining could have adverse impacts on communities, and local governments "have to pick up the tab". She said local governments were not consulted before the reform was publicly announced. "This move by the state government continues to show us that they are putting industry above local governments." Ms Beazley said WALGA was advised of the intent to reform before it was announced, and said it was not a matter of prioritising one sector over another. "Charging rates on land held under miscellaneous licences was never intended to be a source of income for local governments," she said. Shire of Mount Magnet President Jim McGorman said the Supreme Court ruling was an unbiased understanding of the Local Government Act. "They're independent of everything from the state government, basically, so they gave us the genuine interpretation of what the act says," Cr McGorman said. He said while mining companies felt they were treated as "cash cows", they could not operate without the region's resources and infrastructure. He said the sector paid royalties to the state government, but that money was not often redistributed back to the mining regions that earned it. Mr Pearce said mining companies already paid rates to shires under exploration, mining or prospecting licenses. "[The reform] is about making sure they're not being double dipped, essentially, or doubly rated over the same ground," he said. He said the mining sector was not responsible for bolstering financially strained councils. "Is having 110 local governments for a population that might cover 500,000 people actually a good way to do things," he said.
West Australian
19-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
AEMC announces new rules in retail energy market, limits price hikes to once a year
Electricity retailers will be limited to hiking prices on consumers once a year in a major shake-up to the country's retail energy market. The Australian Energy Market Commission announced the changes on Thursday, entrenching a sweep of new rules designed to protect consumers from price shocks. Retailers are now limited to lifting prices once a year and must ensure customers who sign up to a plan with a temporary benefit do not roll over to one that is higher than the default price. Further, there is now a ban on what AMEC calls 'unreasonably high penalties' for not paying bills on time, and a ban on fees, except for network charges, for vulnerable customers. Providers must also limit fees charges to reasonable costs for all other consumers. AEMC chair Anna Collyer said the new rules, which follow from requests submitted by state energy ministers in August last year, marked a 'significant milestone in consumer protection'. 'These reforms will help ensure that Australian households can have she said. 'For the first time, we have formally applied our updated equity guidance across these rule changes, explicitly considering how contract terms, benefits and fees may disproportionately impact vulnerable consumers.' She said limiting energy price increases to once a year would help households 'predict' their energy costs and avoid unexpected price rises across the year. The AEMC also announced a draft proposal to improve the visibility of the 'better offer message' that appears on energy bills. The regulator claims as many as 40 per cent of customers do not always open their bills and so miss important messages about potential savings. The draft rule would require retailers to present better offer messages in cover emails and bill summaries. 'The primary opportunity is visibility – ensuring customers know when better deals are available to them,' Ms Collyer said. data insights director Sally Tindall said the changes were 'a step in the right direction' but more needed to be done to 'lift the clouds of confusion that hang over our electricity bills'. 'The new rule to limit price hikes to just once a year is a fantastic measure that will give Australians greater confidence when comparing their options,' she said. 'It means that Australians will be more likely to be comparing apples with apples when they do their research, particularly if the majority of retailers opt to implement any price hikes in July in line with the reference price changes. 'Right now, Australians looking for a competitive deal on their electricity plan really need to be checking on their rates at least once every six months. 'Limiting the number of price hikes to just one a year could reduce the need to check on your bill, freeing up time to focus on other expenses.' The new rules come into effect from July 1, 2026, giving retailers 12 months to implement them.
Perth Now
19-06-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Huge change to impact your electricity bill
Electricity retailers will be limited to hiking prices on consumers once a year in a major shake-up to the country's retail energy market. The Australian Energy Market Commission announced the changes on Thursday, entrenching a sweep of new rules designed to protect consumers from price shocks. Retailers are now limited to lifting prices once a year and must ensure customers who sign up to a plan with a temporary benefit do not roll over to one that is higher than the default price. Further, there is now a ban on what AMEC calls 'unreasonably high penalties' for not paying bills on time, and a ban on fees, except for network charges, for vulnerable customers. Providers must also limit fees charges to reasonable costs for all other consumers. AEMC chair Anna Collyer said the new rules, which follow from requests submitted by state energy ministers in August last year, marked a 'significant milestone in consumer protection'. Power bill increases will be limited to once a year under new rules from the AEMC: NewsWire / Brenton Edwards Credit: News Corp Australia 'These reforms will help ensure that Australian households can have she said. 'For the first time, we have formally applied our updated equity guidance across these rule changes, explicitly considering how contract terms, benefits and fees may disproportionately impact vulnerable consumers.' She said limiting energy price increases to once a year would help households 'predict' their energy costs and avoid unexpected price rises across the year. The AEMC also announced a draft proposal to improve the visibility of the 'better offer message' that appears on energy bills. The regulator claims as many as 40 per cent of customers do not always open their bills and so miss important messages about potential savings. The draft rule would require retailers to present better offer messages in cover emails and bill summaries. 'The primary opportunity is visibility – ensuring customers know when better deals are available to them,' Ms Collyer said. Australian Energy Market Commission chair Anna Collyer said the changes would help protect consumers from price shocks. AEMC Credit: Supplied data insights director Sally Tindall said the changes were 'a step in the right direction' but more needed to be done to 'lift the clouds of confusion that hang over our electricity bills'. 'The new rule to limit price hikes to just once a year is a fantastic measure that will give Australians greater confidence when comparing their options,' she said. 'It means that Australians will be more likely to be comparing apples with apples when they do their research, particularly if the majority of retailers opt to implement any price hikes in July in line with the reference price changes. 'Right now, Australians looking for a competitive deal on their electricity plan really need to be checking on their rates at least once every six months. 'Limiting the number of price hikes to just one a year could reduce the need to check on your bill, freeing up time to focus on other expenses.' The new rules come into effect from July 1, 2026, giving retailers 12 months to implement them.
