Residents at Port Augusta in South Australia’s north have launched a campaign to replace the city’s two ageing coal-fired power stations.
A community group has been set up to encourage a switch to renewable energy.
The Playford and Northern stations are two of the oldest in Australia and have become unviable under the Federal Government’s carbon pricing scheme.
Their owner, Alinta Energy, wants funding from the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation to close the generators down and is considering gas-fired and solar-thermal electricity as alternatives.
Local resident and group spokeswoman Annette Morse says solar energy is the best way forward.
“We’ve got the sun here, why not use what we’ve been provided with,” she said.
Port Augusta Council chief executive Greg Perkin agrees that a renewable option is needed and says residents have long complained about health problems from the stations.
“That clearly shows community support for a cleaner future for power generation in our city,” he said.
The State Government says above average lung cancer levels in the city are caused by smoking.
