New plan to make one third of government cars and ALL buses electric – despite warnings charging costs are set to skyrocket

The NSW government is making budget cuts in the face of a looming recession

Despite this, it is hoping to push ahead with expensive green transport projects

This includes turning a fleet of its own cars and buses into electric vehicles

A quietly-released report warned that electric prices are likely to skyrocket

ALISHA ROUSE
2 June 2020

DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

A pricey plan to bring in a fleet of electrics cars and buses is to go ahead, despite warnings of the spiralling costs at a time when Australia is preparing for a recession.

The New South Wales government has quietly released the plan, which aims to turn one third of all of its cars electric, while a separate report warns of the rocketing energy cost.

It comes at a time of economic upheaval for state governments, with treasurer Dominic Perrottet trying to save money by freezing public sector wages.

The $800 million redevelopment of the ANZ stadium are also being shelved, despite the government still pursuing pricey green initiatives.  

Energy Minister Matt Kean ordered that 30 per cent of all new government vehicles, as well as the city’s 8,000 buses, must be electric by 2023, according to the Daily Telegraph.

This is equivalent to 900 new cars, which either have to electric or hybrid, but 10 per cent have to be fully electric. 

The money, thought to be in the hundreds of millions, is likely to come from a $2 billion pot aimed at environmental initiatives, partially funded by the federal government.

Just meeting the 10 per cent target for fully electric cars is likely to cost around $6 million, with hopes this will be offset by lower fuel costs. 

But in a separate report, written in December 2018 but quietly released last week, experts warned energy prices are likely to jump 15 per cent.

This is as a result of coal-fired power stations being decommissioned, another green initiative, such as Liddell Power Station and Vales Point Power Station.

The report warned that an over-reliance on renewable energy would lead to wholesale price increases, with the average $1,627 bill increasing by 15 per cent. 

The NSW government is undertaking heavy budget cuts as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The crisis could see between $10-20 billion slashed from the state’s revenue, with the treasurer warning ‘the hit to the economy is real’.

Officials previously predicted that the government would have a $1.9 billion surplus over the next four years.

But the grim forecast has even forced the state government to freeze public sector wages for 12 months in a bid to save the $3 billion.

Despite this, Mr Kean is still going ahead with a ‘Net Zero’ policy, which means he is aiming to have no carbon emissions in the state by 2015.

It also means the introduction of a National Construction Code, and another specially for NSW, to make sure all new buildings ‘are electric vehicle-ready’.

This means the installation of charging stations, which is how electric cars are powered.  

‘It’s going to do a lot of harm to the housing industry, bringing in these BASIX regulations, it’s going to add to the cost of housing,’ One Nation MP Mark Latham said.  

Shooters and Fishers party leader Robert Borsak called the plan ‘nuts’, saying it was foolish to bring in a fleet of new vehicles without a cheap way of powering them.