With water, power and plenty of space, Latrobe City Council has pitched the valley to the federal government as a prime location for data centre developments.
What happened: In a submission to the federal government endorsed by councillors last week, the council argued the region has access to everything required for new data centre developments.
The region’s land, water, energy, transmission infrastructure and transferable industrial workforce were all highlighted as selling points.
What they said: Latrobe City Mayor Sharon Gibson told the Monitor the council’s submission also advocated for federal regulations covering environmental, water and community impacts.
Once that’s in play, the sky’s the limit.
“We want regulations and guidelines put in for data-centre developments, but we have a lot of land that’s not near any housing at all and would be well suited to these facilities,” said Gibson.
The council’s submission included seven recommendations, like more protection for adjoining landowners and avoiding state or federal-level fast-tracking of developments.
An eighth recommendation was added in the meeting last week, calling for early and ongoing community engagement for data centre proposals.
What data centres? In January, Singaporean company Keppel announced it had secured the rights to lease a 123-hectare site at Hazelwood to build and operate a data centre.
The site is within one of Gippsland’s Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), which the company said will help give the centre access to reliable and cheap energy.
We want jobs: In the meeting, councillor Dale Harriman argued the new industry would provide jobs to an area that is in desperate need of new employment opportunities.
"We're in need of more jobs in the region. There are jobs within this industry that are, with a small amount of training, transferable to industries we already have here".
Mayor Gibson said the council didn’t have exact figures for the number of jobs that would be provided for the Keppel development, but added: “They're always going to need electricians and they're always going to need different trades.”
New policies: On Wednesday, the federal government announced it will mandate that data centres use green electricity sources or risk having their power turned off.
The new legislation is designed to limit the industries impact on Australia’s power grid and stop electricity bill spikes hurting consumers.
According to Energy Minister Chris Bowen, data centres that fail to meet the requirements will be forced to cut their power and could face financial penalties.
What are the state parties doing about it?
Labor: The Victorian government has released a Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan.
The plan prohibits data centres from being built in residential zones and near schools and childcare centres. It also sets out rules across planning, water and energy use, and environmental impacts.
Coalition: The Coalition has said it will direct new facilities to be built in Data Centre Precincts that are separated from residential areas.
Greens: The Victorian Greens are calling for a moratorium on all new AI data centres until communities are able to provide ample feedback. The party wants to see the facilities powered by 100 percent renewable electricity.
One Nation: The party wants to ban new data centres on prime agricultural land and require companies to publish a community impact assessment for energy demand, water, fire risk, noise and traffic.