Latrobe City councillor Dale Harriman remembers how devastated the community was when roughly 750 workers were made redundant in the 2017 Hazelwood power plant closure.
“It’s hard for a community to lose so many jobs, lose so much income going into the local economy,” Harriman told the Monitor.
Engie had announced the imminent closure of the 50-year-old Hazelwood power plant in November 2016 and four months later, in March 2017, it was done.
"We learnt the lessons of the unplanned closure of Hazelwood power station and the devastating effect that had, and is still having, on this community."
Harriman said he is hopeful Energy Australia, Latrobe City Council and state and federal governments can avoid making the same mistakes with the planned closure of the Yallourn coal-fired power station in mid-2028.
But a report from the federal government’s Net Zero Economy Authority (NZEA) says Energy Australia will be able to “at best” provide future employment to approximately 24 percent of its Yallourn workforce at the existing site, and those roles may also be short contracts.
What’s happening: In March 2021, Energy Australia said it would cease operating its coal-fired power station at Yallourn in mid-2028. This has given the company and government bodies a seven-year period to prepare the roughly 450 workers for new jobs and careers.
“The clock’s ticking - it's less than two years away now,” Mining & Energy Union Victorian District President, Andy Smith, told the Monitor. “The workers on site that I speak to are saying there’s a lot of uncertainty about what life looks like for them after the closure.
“There are workers that will be able to retire with a redundancy package, but there are more workers that due to their age and their financial position will have to keep working.”
Why is Yallourn closing? The current Yallourn station (known as Yallourn W) is 52 years old. The average lifespan of a coal-fired plant in Australia is 29 years.
With an increasing amount of unplanned outages at the station due to the aging facility, Energy Australia is shifting to several renewable energy projects on the site, including a 350W large-scale battery, which can power 230,000 homes for up to four hours.
The design for Energy Australia’s large-scale battery at Yallourn.
Union wants job security
Smith said the union is in favour of more clean energy jobs, but wants guarantees those positions will be in the Latrobe Valley.
“We’re not against renewable energy, because clearly it is the future,” he said. “There probably aren’t enough jobs right now, but it'll get there in time.”
What is the government doing about it?
In 2024, the federal government set up the Net Zero Economy Authority (NZEA) to manage Australia’s shift to renewable energy.
Part of the organisation's role is to help coal workers move into new industries by accessing training and reskilling opportunities.
In June, the CEO of NZEA, David Shankey, sent a report to the Fair Work Commission to request that it establish an Energy Industry Jobs Plan (EIJP) for the Yallourn Power Station closure.
The plan, if approved by the commission, would put obligations on Energy Australia to prepare Yallourn employees for future employment. This could include training, career planning, financial advice, paid time off or flexible working arrangements.
What about Energy Australia?
According to the report by NZEA, Energy Australia will be able to “at best” provide jobs to under a quarter of its Yallourn workforce.
These roles include decommissioning and demolition of the power station, rehabilitation of the mine and transitioning the site to a new energy and data centre hub.