Snowy Hydro Limited
Encyclopedia
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
jointly owned by the Commonwealth (13%), New South Wales
Government of New South Wales
The form of the Government of New South Wales is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1856, although it has been amended many times since then...
(58%) and Victoria
Government of Victoria
The Government of Victoria, under the Constitution of Australia, ceded certain legislative and judicial powers to the Commonwealth, but retained complete independence in all other areas...
n (29%) Governments.
The company manages the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
which generates on average around 4500 gigawatt hours of clean, renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
each year, which is around 67% of all renewable energy in the mainland National Electricity Market in 2009. The scheme also diverts water for irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
from the Snowy Mountains
Snowy Mountains
The Snowy Mountains, known informally as "The Snowies", are the highest Australian mountain range and contain the Australian mainland's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, which reaches 2,228 metres AHD, approximately 7310 feet....
Catchment west to the Murray
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
and Murrumbidgee River
Murrumbidgee River
The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory . A major tributary of the Murray River, the Murrumbidgee flows in a west-northwesterly direction from the foot of Peppercorn Hill in the Fiery Range of the Snowy Mountains,...
systems.
In addition to owning the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
, the company owns an electricity and gas retailer, Red Energy which operates in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, a 300MW gas-fired peaking power station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley and a 320MW gas-fired peaking power station at Laverton North near Melbourne.
In December 2005, the NSW Government announced it would sell its 58% share in Snowy Hydro. The Federal and Victorian governments had followed suit, announcing the intent to sell their 13% and 29% respectively. Pre-registration for shares in Snowy Hydro opened in mid May and it was expected that the float would take place some time in July.
On 2 June 2006, the Federal Government announced that it would no longer sell its 13% stake in the project, effectively forcing the hands of the New South Wales and Victorian governments to follow suit. The aborted sale followed strong opposition from the public, including government MPs and prominent Australians. Despite this, over 200,000 people pre-registered to purchase shares in the company over two weeks.
Despite the privatisation of the company being cancelled, the company has continued to grow with investment into Snowy Scheme modernisation projects, cloud seeding, development of mini hydro opportunities such as the 14MW Jounama mini hydro and growth of its retailer, Red Energy.
In addition Snowy Hydro is seeking to expand its gas-fired power station portfolio. This strategy is aimed at reducing risks to the business due to its reliance on water as an energy source, and due to the Snowy Mountains Scheme's geographical isolation on the electricity grid making it subject to transmission constraints in some circumstances.
Opposition to the sale
Prior to the sale in 2005, there was a pronounced public opposition, which commenced when a band of notable public, other persons banded together to try and stop its privatisation.The group who first joined together in an attempt to stop the sell-off included former Senior Engineer Max Talbot, Coral Talbot, former Snowy Commissioner Vin Good, previous Independent Candidate for the seat of Eden-Monaro Acacia Rose, John Gallard, Cooma-Monaro Shire Mayor Roger Norton and Snowy River Shire Mayor Richard Wallace.
Jindabyne resident Lee Taylor-Friend and Vicky Wallace, a key figure in the Snowy River Alliance and Dalgety District and Community Association, organised public rallies in Jindabyne and Cooma putting pressure on governments to withdraw from the sale.
The Snowy River Shire Council was the first to vote for a no sale of the Snowy Scheme leading over 100 Mayors from around NSW to vote against the sale. Key politicians including Greens Sylvia Hale
Sylvia Hale
Sylvia Phyllis Hale is a social justice, community and environmental campaigner, and a former Australian politician. She was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2003 to 2010 for the Greens....
in the NSW Government, the late Peter Andren
Peter Andren
Peter James Andren AM was an Australian politician. He was an independent member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until October 2007, representing the electorate of Calare, New South Wales....
, Independent for Calare, Tony Windsor
Tony Windsor
Antony Harold Curties "Tony" Windsor , an Australian politician, is an independent member of the House of Representatives since 2001, representing the Division of New England, New South Wales...
Independent for New England, Greens Senator Bob Brown
Bob Brown
Robert James Brown is an Australian senator, the inaugural Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens and was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia...
and National Party Senator Kay Hull
Kay Hull
Kay Elizabeth Hull , Australian politician, was a National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to July 2010, representing the Division of Riverina, New South Wales.-Personal life:...
rallied drawing in farmers, conservationists and ordinary Australians from around the country to stop the sale of the Snowy Scheme.
Ski engineer Doug Nichols brought together 100 celebrities including Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett
Catherine Élise "Cate" Blanchett is an Australian actress. She came to international attention for her role as Elizabeth I of England in the 1998 biopic film Elizabeth, for which she won British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Golden Globe Awards, and earned her first Academy Award...
who signed a petition asking the then Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
to call off the sale.
Legal advice obtained by Senator Brown indicated that the Commonwealth Parliament voted on a 'motion' in Parliament and not a 'Bill' making the vote to sell the Snowy illegal.
In June 2006 the Prime Minister announced that the Federal Government would not sell their minority 'share' of the Snowy Scheme. New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma
Morris Iemma , is a former Australian politician and 40th Premier of New South Wales, succeeding Bob Carr after he resigned on 3 August 2005. Iemma led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 2007 election before resigning as Premier on 5 September 2008, and as a Member of Parliament on 19...
then abandoned the plan.
The Snowy Scheme had been 'corporatised' in 2002 on a promise to not privatise the Snowy Scheme and entrusted the ownership to three government 'shareholders', the Commonwealth, NSW and Victorian Governments. However, moves were already afoot to sell the Snowy Scheme governments only revealing their intentions on 1 November 2005. In 2007 the NSW and Federal elections were held and Labor candidates Steve Whan
Steve Whan
Steve Whan , an Australian politician, is a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, appointed in June 2011 to fill a casual vacancy. Whan represented the electoral district of Monaro in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the Australian Labor Party from 2003 until his defeat at...
(State) and Mike Kelly
Mike Kelly (politician)
Michael Joseph "Mike" Kelly AM, MP , is an Australian politician, elected to the Australian House of Representatives as member for the Division of Eden-Monaro, New South Wales for the Australian Labor Party at the 2007 federal election...
(Federal) committed not to sell the Snowy Scheme. A move by the New South Wales state government to privatise the energy sector was defeated before reaching Parliament by the Labor caucus.
External links
- Construction Images
- Snowy Hydro company website
- Audiovisual titles relating to the building of the Snowy Hydro Scheme on australianscreen
Renewable energy in Australia