Unlike other States, most of Queensland’s power stations are still in public hands. This means that the revenue from the power stations goes back to funding schools, hospitals and roads, rather than to private companies.

In fact the people of Queensland receive more income from its power stations than from royalties for coal mines!

Selling Queensland’s electricity assets has been a hot issue at the last few elections – and the people of Queensland have repeated voted for parties who are committed to keeping power in public hands. 

So how do we maintain public ownership of energy generation as we transition away from coal and to renewables? The answer is simple – the government must build and own new renewable energy power stations.

Solar Citizens is part of a group of community organisations and unions that are asking the Queensland government to invest in 1GW of renewable energy before the next budget in May 2020.

So what are some of the advantages of publicly owned renewable energy?

• Guaranteed good, local jobs
• The revenue is used for community benefit
• The clean power stations can be located to maximise public benefit

Here at Solar Citizens we still believe that there is an important role for the private sector to play. Currently 60% of Queensland’s energy generators are in public hands, with the remaining 40% in public hands including community-owned. We think that we should maintain this current mix in Queensland.

If you want to get involved – sign the petition today! 

- - -

[1] Queensland Budget 2016-17 - Budget Strategy and Outlook, Queensland Government.