Mr BAYLEY question to MINISTER for ENERGY and RENEWABLES, Mr DUIGAN
Last week, a Greens motion passed this place seeking information on how your pledge of requiring new energy generation from data centres and AI factories would actually work. Instead of providing a clear response, you referred to your non‑binding draft statement of expectations. This statement does nothing to answer the questions the Greens have been asking for months. It says you’re going to ‘require new energy to be generated’, but places no binding legislative or regulatory obligations on companies. You’re talking in vague dot-points, when the community is demanding strict safeguards and guarantees so they can keep the lights on when all these data centres finally come online. Minister, will you act immediately to bring in binding requirements on AI data centres which protect the Tasmanian community and environment?
ANSWER
Honourable Speaker, I thank the member for the question. I appreciate the level of interest, and am pleased to update the House that on Monday we did release our draft statement of expectation for data centres and AI infrastructure. I think it sets out many of those expectations we all share, and it’s potentially not new that we would require new loads into Tasmania to bring with them new generation. That has been a position of our government as we begin to contemplate those things, whether they be clean fuel proponents, AI data centres, or whatever those new loads may be.
There are also other expectations regarding connections and the cost of those connections, and there being no negative impacts for other customers in the network. This is very important that those expectations are clear, and we would indeed see benefits for other electricity users in the network. Of course, these data centres are transmission‑connected customers, and that would see a decrease in prices in the transmission space, which shows up very markedly on large energy users, but is also a component of others’ energy bills.
I would also point members to the Firmus Australian Energy Policy, which is on their website. It sets out in pretty clear terms what their commitments are, and in broad terms, there is a great deal of alignment in terms of what they would seek to build and add to our energy mix. It’s important to understand, though, that this is not a circumstance that is peculiar to Tasmania. AI and data centres and the build out of that infrastructure is something that’s happening across the country. Australia is a calm geopolitical space and is attractive for those investors.
Dr Woodruff – Community’s are rising up because they’re not getting information.
The SPEAKER – Order, honourable Leader of the Greens.
Mr DUIGAN – On Friday, I will join other Energy ministers from around the country and we’ll continue our work at a national level to put in place those binding regulations, whether they be through the national electricity law, the provision of Renewable Electricity Guarantee of Origin certificates. We’re still working on the detail of that, but these expectations will be formulated, they will be regulated and they will be legislated, albeit at the federal level.
We look forward to this investment ‑ it’s important, as the Premier mentioned today. This is the sort of investment that Tasmania will continue to attract, because we are attractive. We have our green grid, a cool climate, these are high-tech jobs –
Supplementary Question
Mr BAYLEY – The minister mentioned the Firmus policy, which itself talks about building two megawatts of energy for every one that they consume. He mentioned the draft statement of expectations, and specifically said ‘requiring data centres to create new load’. My question was: will he immediately bring in binding requirements on AI data centres? You said there’s going to be binding statutory requirements at the federal level. We need them at the state level, because this is where these deals are being done. Will you act to bring in binding requirements here, at the state level?
Mr DUIGAN – I thank the honourable member for the question. The first point I would make is that we have a great number of very binding rules here in Tasmania. If you want to build something here in Tasmania, you will go through our approvals processes. They are not insubstantial, and that is as it should be. There is a suite of work occurring at the Commonwealth level because there is an agreement, I think, between states that that’s the appropriate place that these regulations would be made, through the national electricity laws. We have set out our expectations, I have written to all of our energy businesses and underscored my expectations about their dealings with AI providers and what they need to be doing, and –
