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An article published by Alan Lander in the Sunshine Coast Daily 13 July 2010 follows:
POWERLINK will “thoroughly assess” a submission for an alternative route for powerlines through Eerwah Vale west of Cooroy.
Residents group Powerline Action Group Eumundi (PAGE) met with Powerlink representatives yesterday to present its case for the lines partly to follow the new [...]

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a complex and lengthy document. In order to deliver a meaningful, community-centred reflection of impacted residents’ concerns, a substantial amount of time and effort was required, but not provided.

The main requirement of the EIS was to provide an assessment of the environmental (economic, social, cultural and physical) impacts from the construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of the proposed transmission line (TL) and substation, and to duly consider alternatives to the proposal carried forward. Ultimately this document is to be used to form the basis of a Ministerial designation of land for community infrastructure.

The Coast council has given people power a boost with it’s call this week for expressions of interest for alternatives to the State Government’s controversial Eerwah Vale power lines plan.
Read the article below by Isobel Coleman that appeared in the Noosa Journal on 31 December 2009.

Today, one of the biggest players in communications, Cisco Systems, has announced an ambitious plan to position itself as the centerpiece of the Smart Grid. The company briefed SGN in advance of its announcement. SGN Founding Editor Jesse Berst analyzes what Cisco is planning and what it means for other players.
Telecom powerhouse Cisco Systems has [...]

The business-as-usual approach to power supply is no longer sustainable. The vast majority of the electricity supply in Queensland is provided by coal-fired power stations. Coal is one of the worst greenhouse gas creating fuels, contributing hugely to climate change. The last projections prepared by the Australian Greenhouse Office [note 1] show energy generation emissions [...]

Things have changed significantly in the past 18 months. A snapshot of the key changes:

Recognition across the political spectrum that an emissions trading scheme must be adopted. The Federal Government is due to deliver by June 2008 a report on the economic impacts of climate change policies and interim emission reduction targets to [...]

The forecast information published and provided as justification for the investment in network infrastructure can be summarised as follows: [note 5]

In the last 40 years electricity demand in the region has grown by around 500%
…forecasts indicate electricity demand will grow by about 30% over the next seven years, and by as much as [...]

The cost to the end user, spread across all users, is that Powerlink and Energex, between them are now spending or planning to spend $5.3bn (Energex $2.71bn and Powerlink $2.6bn) from 2005-2012. This significantly understates the cost of provision of electricity, by breaking up the costs of provision into smaller discrete chunks, where [...]

The Least Cost Planning (LCP) Approach originated in the electricity industry in the US in the 1980’s [note 7] and has been applied to the water and transport sectors in Australia. The principle of LCP is that customers do not actually need electricity; instead they require the services that are provided by this commodity. In [...]

Demand management consists of analysing and identifying the drivers of demand, the main uses of power and the policies for reducing or stabilising energy demand. Listed below are examples of demand management programs:

Installation of smart meters and variable pricing for different times of day (estimated 10-15% saving) [note 9]
In California, the peak period pricing reduced [...]