Great to see #coops, #manufacturing, #democracy & #climatechange linked in this ripper article about Earthworker Energy Manufacturing Cooperative! And great to see some coverage of Redgum Cleaning Cooperative, Hope Co-op and Cooperative Power too.
A cooperative approach to energy in the Latrobe Valley by David Morison – Assemble Papers
“For nearly a century, the Latrobe Valley has provided most of Victoria’s power. While there are distant views of chimney stacks and cooling towers from the Princes Freeway, the enormous size and scale of energy production is revealed along the Power Drive Scenic Route. Between the towns of Morwell and Moe, the route heads north through Haunted Hills where a brown tourist sign (‘OPEN CUT LOOK OUT’) directs drivers to a viewing area above the Yallourn open cut coal mine. Expanding out and downwards, the mine is vast.
In total, the open cut mines at Yallourn, Hazelwood and Loy Yang cover more than 50 square kilometres. Under the State Electricity Commission (SEC), power first flowed from Yallourn to Melbourne in 1924. As demand for electricity from a growing population increased, the SEC employed thousands of workers to expand production. By the 1970s, around 20% of the working population in the Latrobe Valley was employed by the SEC. Privatisation in the 1990s by the Kennett Government resulted in massive job losses and a downturn in house prices, which left people trapped.
The future of the Latrobe Valley is often described as ‘uncertain’. This is not surprising. Engie, the owners of the Hazelwood Power Station, gave workers just five months’ notice when they announced the closure of the entire plant in 2017. Loy Yang B Power Station is scheduled to close around 2048, although owner Alinta Energy is considering an earlier timeframe. And while there are calls for a ‘just transition’ through retraining, re-employment and investment in industries that support a sustainable future, there is also support for new coal-fired power stations. Within this environment of uncertainty, Earthworker Cooperative set out to address the challenges of economic decline and climate change. As Cooperative Secretary Dan Musil explains, “We aim to grow a network of worker cooperatives that do socially and environmentally useful work while providing dignified livelihoods to people.”
See all the photos and read the rest of the article in Assemble Papers