ENERGY
Energy must be produced and utilised in the most efficient and environmentally sustainable way, based on renewables. However, energy production methods to date have largely relied on the extraction and burning of fossil fuels which has led to the current climate change crisis, exacerbated by transmission and energy use practices. The situation is urgent; this is a pivotal decade to make meaningful progress in moving to renewable energy sources, full electrification, and decarbonising our economy. The longer we wait, the more challenging, harmful and costly it will be.
Aims
The Greens (WA) want:
● planning for a rapid transition to a net-zero pollution economy that is primarily based on renewable sources of energy and efficient energy conversion, with specific near and long-term targets
● all electricity generation on the main grids to transition to renewables to meet the net-zero target, while ensuring the protection of the environment, including native bushland, biodiversity and threatened ecological communities
● energy efficiency in homes and businesses (see also The Greens (WA) Housing and Homelessness policy)
● implementation of electricity market reform that supports corporate and residential renewable energy suppliers, and local micro-grids, while maintaining public ownership of distribution
● fossil fuel management that curtails fossil fuels, including the coal, liquid natural gas and hydraulic fracturing industries, ends subsidies, and enforces greenhouse gas monitoring and mitigation obligations
Measures
The Greens (WA) will initiate and support legislation and actions that:
Planning
● develop a long-term state energy plan aiming for a net-zero target by 2035
● include a transition to zero-carbon energy for transport, industry, agriculture and electricity generation
● continue to subsidise and invest in solar battery systems and infrastructure for all Western Australian households, including rentals, and businesses
● increase investments and incentives for solar and wind farms
● improve the various electricity grids to reduce costs, improve access to renewable energy sources and improve service, e.g. continue replacing the inefficient parts of the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) with micro-grids
● include transition plans to phase out fossil fuel electricity generation with emissions reduction targets and timetables
● identify regulatory barriers to achieving a zero-emissions economy and includes timetables to remove those barriers
● prepare the SWIS for the potential impact of domestic, service and industrial charging of electric vehicles, including charging facilities, and vehicle-to-grid technologies
● develop green energy export industries for WA that respect First Nations land rights and ecological boundaries
● plan for Western Australia to become a source of expertise in the application of low polluting technology through research, engineering and business innovation and investment
Renewable Energy
● set renewable energy targets for 2030 and 2035 that align with the emissions reduction targets aiming for a net-zero target by 2035
● establish an iterative renewable energy transition plan aiming for 100% renewable energy for the SWIS by 2030
● reform electricity market access arrangements to allow maximum possible participation by renewable energy suppliers
● provide financial certainty for prospective renewable energy supply technologies through offtake agreements and grid access
● establish streamlined processes for planning approvals and electricity network connections for utility-scale renewable energy plants that also protect nature
● support continued research and development of hydrogen from renewable sources, only for hard to electrify parts of the economy
● fund and support research into the best technologies (e.g. pumped hydro, wave energy, batteries) for overcoming periods when solar and wind resources may be insufficient to maintain adequate electricity supplies
● support the ongoing development and increased use of different scale batteries, both on and off grid
● Replace use of fossil fuels for electricity generation in remote communities with renewable energy production
● ensure that all renewable energy developments are located and designed in a way that minimises impacts on native bushland, biodiversity and threatened ecological communities
Energy Efficiency
● support energy efficiency measures from household to industry level to minimise energy demand to a level of sufficiency
● support community engagement in emissions reduction actions, including household renewable technology options, energy efficiency measures, voluntary consumption management functionality, and energy auditing
● establish mandatory energy efficiency audits for major energy users, with compulsory implementation of energy management plans to drastically reduce emissions, and where elimination is not possible, have very minimal approved offsetting mechanisms
● increase minimum requirements for energy efficiency in new buildings and homes at the design stage and provide incentives to exceed these minimum requirements
● increase incentives and subsidies for substantial retrofits to existing buildings, including commercial buildings, rental properties, apartments and other strata title property, to improve energy efficiency, with explicitly stated and timed targets for overall state-wide efficiency improvements
● require mandatory energy efficiency disclosure of residential and commercial property prior to sale or lease
Electricity Market
● maintain public ownership of the electricity transmission and distribution system
● ensure that owners of renewable energy systems are paid a fair rate for the electricity they export to the grid, recognising the grid service they provide by reducing network spending, fortification and peak demand generation capacity
● reform electricity market access arrangements to foster increased participation by renewable energy suppliers, including residential suppliers
● in setting access charges for renewable energy systems, financial recognition should be made of their contribution to lowering overall greenhouse gas emissions
● support longer-term measures to allow trading of electricity by smaller generators and consumers (even down to individual residences) over local electricity networks and micro-grids
● implement reforms that encourage the establishment of local micro-grids to allow communities, especially those towards the fringe of the existing grid, to generate and use their own electricity
Fossil Fuel Resource Management
● remove or phase out subsidies for the use of greenhouse gas emitting energy sources and end direct and indirect subsidies to fossil fuel energy sources
● legislate a clean energy transition levy on the gross revenue made from existing WA gas projects processed onshore, earmarked solely to pay for WA’s transition into a renewable energy superpower and to remediate the increasing climate damage that WA is suffering
● ban any new coal-fired power stations or coal mines, and any expansion to existing coal-fired power stations or mines
● support a transition plan for the decommissioning of existing coal-fired power stations and coal mines in Collie while supporting the development of programs to assist the Collie community to transition to alternative sources of economic prosperity
● oppose any new or expanded liquid natural gas (LNG) facilities and work toward the replacement of gas with renewable energy as widely as possible
● oppose the expansion of existing natural gas production, and prevent the development of any gas well developments including those that involve hydraulic fracturing and work toward the replacement of the industry with renewable energy, leading to the near-term retirement of the gas industry
● require full, open and transparent annual disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions from all components of the production train in all oil and gas facilities without exclusion, as part of national inventory reporting requirements, with appropriate penalties for under-reporting
● force existing fossil fuel producers to comply with all licence conditions, established at either a State or Federal level, with respect to carbon pollution mitigation and that appropriate penalties are applied where agreed mitigation measures have failed
(see also Greens (WA) Climate Change and the Australian Greens Climate Change and Energy policies)
Energy policy ratified by The Greens (WA) in June 2026