{"id":46355,"date":"2022-05-06T10:18:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T09:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=46355"},"modified":"2022-05-06T16:16:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T15:16:59","slug":"how-a-tech-billionaire-is-forcing-australias-coal-die-hards-to-face-the-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/05\/06\/how-a-tech-billionaire-is-forcing-australias-coal-die-hards-to-face-the-future\/","title":{"rendered":"How a tech billionaire is forcing Australia&#8217;s coal die-hards to face the future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Australian software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes made a dramatic $660 million market raid on Australia\u2019s biggest coal generator and polluter AGL this week, vowing to oppose its proposed demerger and fasttrack its exit from coal.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Grok Ventures, the private investment firm of Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie, hired brokers to stand in the market late Monday to snap up an 11.28% voting stake, which may be enough to thwart the demerger at the upcoming shareholder meeting in June.<\/p>\n<p>Of all the things that have and will be said about Cannon-Brookes and his landmark siege of AGL, the one that seems to get under his skin the most is the claim that he is the person responsible for the early closure of Australia\u2019s coal generators.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an attack line that is readily deployed by fossil fuel lobbyists and Coalition conservatives, if you\u2019ll excuse the tautology, because there is nothing so easy as throwing darts at someone when you are trying to hide a complete stuff up.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n<p>                #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }<\/p>\n<p>                \/* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.<\/p>\n<p>                   We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. *\/<\/p>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup\">\n<form id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" class=\"validate\" action=\"https:\/\/climatehomenews.us1.list-manage.com\/subscribe\/post?u=6316d25f7b68919349e54a251&amp;id=bf939f9418\" method=\"post\" name=\"mc-embedded-subscribe-form\" novalidate=\"\" target=\"_blank\">\n<div id=\"mc_embed_signup_scroll\">\n<p><label for=\"mce-EMAIL\">Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up for free to get our weekly newsletter and occasional extra bulletins<\/label><input id=\"mce-EMAIL\" class=\"email\" name=\"EMAIL\" required=\"\" type=\"email\" value=\"\" placeholder=\"your email address\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"position: absolute; left: -5000px;\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><input tabindex=\"-1\" name=\"b_6316d25f7b68919349e54a251_bf939f9418\" type=\"text\" value=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"clear\"><input id=\"mc-embedded-subscribe\" class=\"button\" name=\"subscribe\" type=\"submit\" value=\"Subscribe to Climate Weekly\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!--End mc_embed_signup--><\/p>\n<p>It fits with the rhetoric that it is the inner city elites that are meddling with the futures of coal industry employees, not global economic, technology and environmental factors. And it annoys the heck out of Cannon-Brookes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe thing I push back on is people say like, \u2018Oh, Mike wants to shut down the plants\u2019,\u201d Cannon-Brookes told RenewEconomy in an interview earlier this week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m like, let\u2019s be clear here: These plants are shutting down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat makes me want to question how we do that, how we do it in a way that keeps prices down, how we do it in a way that values the workers that work there and doesn\u2019t just throw them on the street, how we do it in a way that can be financed and managed to transition in a more stable sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cannon-Brookes says the last coal unit should be closed by 2035 at the latest, and big efforts made to ensure that the replacement capacity \u2013 renewables and storage \u2013 is delivered by then.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/04\/26\/macron-promises-to-abandon-gas-oil-and-coal-but-will-he-deliver\/\"><strong>Analysis:<\/strong> Macron promises to abandon gas, oil and coal, but will he deliver?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a number of reasons we need to get it done,\u201d Cannon-Brookes says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCertainly the climate science would say that it needs to be done far more rapidly than the company\u2019s current closure date of 2045. And the financiers would say it needs to be happened far more rapidly than that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFind me a model outside of AGL that shows that these plants are in any way able to be run in 2045. There is also the case that\u2026 attracting capital requires you nowadays to have a plan that is somewhat aligned to various global climate agreements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would necessitate, in my understanding, 2035 is probably the outside date and you need a really credible plan to say that that\u2019s the last day, when the last unit of the last coal plant will be shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AGL paints this an extreme position. But it\u2019s not got many supporters of that view.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/03\/21\/australian-government-welcomes-high-fossil-fuel-prices-ships-coal-to-ukraine\/\"><strong>Australian<\/strong> government welcomes high fossil fuel prices, ships coal to Ukraine<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>After all, the NSW Coalition government is working on the assumption that all of the state\u2019s black coal generators (including AGL\u2019s Bayswater) will be closed in a decade, which is why it is working on a renewable infrastructure plan that will likely turn out to be one of the most significant and rapid transitions in the western world.<\/p>\n<p>And the Australian Energy Market Operator\u2019s latest planning document, known as the Integrated System Plan, assumes that all brown coal generators (including AGL\u2019s Loy Yang A) will also be gone within a decade.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that AEMO\u2019s scenario planning is endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the energy industry, and a growing number believe the transition will \u2013 and must \u2013 be even quicker than that.<\/p>\n<p>But not AGL. Its business plan assumes Loy Yang A will keep generating, and polluting, for another 13 years, until 2045. It wants to split the business into two to manage the transition at its own speed.<\/p>\n<p>Cannon-Brookes says this position is completely untenable, given what is at stake for employees, the environment and the future of the company, and has vowed to stop the company split.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/01\/28\/crypto-bubble-hype-machine-behind-70000-carbon-credit\/\"><strong>Crypto bubble:<\/strong> The hype machine behind a $70,000 carbon credit<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It has now turned into a bitter fight. Cannon-Brookes told RenewEconomy earlier this week \u2013 a day after launching his market raid \u2013 that he was <a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/im-sick-of-them-f-cking-it-up-cannon-brookes-takes-aim-at-agl-board\/\">\u201csick of them [the AGL board] fucking it up.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>AGL retorted on Thursday by accusing the Cannon-Brookes team of making \u201cfalse claims\u201d, including the observation that AGL has made no direct investment in renewables over the last five years.<\/p>\n<p>AGL says it has invested $4.8 billion over the last two decades in renewables. The irony is that while that may be true, it doesn\u2019t mean that Cannon-Brookes\u2019 claim is false.<\/p>\n<p>The argument that AGL has made no direct investment in renewables in the last five years is supported in the very same document that the company used to attack Cannon-Brookes. As this map below reveals, all the latest projects have been funded by \u201cthird parties\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_173233\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-173233\">\n<p><div id=\"attachment_173233\" style=\"width: 604px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-173233\" class=\"ls-is-cached lazyloaded wp-image-173233 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-594x500.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1\" sizes=\"(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-237x200.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 237w, https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map.jpg?size=480x404&amp;lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 480w, https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-594x500.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 594w, https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-scaled.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1200w\" alt=\"AGL generation portfolio\" width=\"594\" height=\"500\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-237x200.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 237w, https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map.jpg?size=480x404&amp;lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 480w, https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-594x500.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 594w, https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-scaled.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1200w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/535485.smushcdn.com\/698061\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/agl-generation-map-594x500.jpg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-173233\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: AGL. Click to expand.<\/p><\/div><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-173233\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/figcaption>Despite this description, AGL insists it is \u201cdirect\u201d, because of has a 20% interest in PowAR and its $357.6 million investment to fund its share of PowAR\u2019s acquisition of Tilt\u2019s Renewables\u2019 Australian business.<\/figure>\n<p>But this dispute over direct and indirect investment misses the point.<\/p>\n<p>The central motivation of Cannon-Brookes\u2019 tilts at AGL \u2013 first in the rejected joint offers made by his private company Grok Ventures and Brookfield, and now through the on market raid \u2013 is about the speed of AGL\u2019s transition.<\/p>\n<p>He says it\u2019s way too slow.<\/p>\n<p>AGL, let\u2019s remember, is the biggest generator of coal in Australia and the biggest single greenhouse polluter in the country, and Cannon-Brookes says its strategy is in no way aligned with a 1.5C or even a 2C target.<\/p>\n<p>A decade ago, AGL\u2019s then CEO Michael Fraser justified his eye boggling investment in coal generators by saying it would provide the cash flow to invest in renewables. Let\u2019s burn coal so we can build more renewables, he argued at the time.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t sound right then and it doesn\u2019t now. (Bizarrely,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/energy-insiders-podcast-origins-big-shift-from-baseload\/\">Origin Energy\u2019s Frank Calabria<\/a>\u00a0is using a similar argument to justify the company\u2019s massive gas investments, even though it has chosen to fast track the closure of its remaining coal generator at Eraring).<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/05\/05\/amid-record-profits-tar-sands-companies-ask-for-more-subsidies-for-carbon-capture\/\"><strong>Canada:<\/strong> Amid record profits, tar sands companies want more subsidies for carbon capture<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And in AGL\u2019s case, it hasn\u2019t turned out the way Fraser suggested it would. He was succeeded by American Andy Vesey, who tried to change the colour of the business plan back to green but got hounded out of the job when he announced the closure of Liddell.<\/p>\n<p>AGL claims to have invested in 2.3GW of renewables in the past 20 years, but given the time-frame, the size of the Australian market and its dominant position, that\u2019s not really a heck of a lot. It has been more interested in rewarding shareholders with its profits from coal.<\/p>\n<p>Now AGL, according to this week\u2019s presentation, is saying it will invest 3GW in renewables and flexible capacity by 2030. Again, that doesn\u2019t come close to what\u2019s likely needed to allow an early closure of its remaining coal generators.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an important point because AGL is suggesting that 2045 is the last possible date for closure of Loy Yang A, not the actual target date. And it is suggesting that this could be brought forward if enough renewable capacity can be built instead.<\/p>\n<p>That sounds a lot like Cannon-Brookes\u2019 plan. The big difference is over the speed of that investment and the transition, and Cannon-Brookes\u2019 contention that this is best done by AGL as a single entity rather than split in two.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/04\/27\/imfs-resilience-fund-out-of-reach-for-some-nations-in-need-analysts-warn\/\"><strong>IMF\u2019s<\/strong> resilience fund \u2018out of reach\u2019 for some nations in need<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Cannon-Brookes also points to the contradictory messages sent out by AGL over Liddell, the ageing, clapped out generator that will close its last unit next year, and Bayswater, located right next door that AGL wants to run for at least another decade.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt boggles the mind that in Liddell, we\u2019re going to make this wonderful green hub with industrial facilities and batteries and all this stuff, we\u2019re using the land and the assets and stuff, but at Bayswater they say we can\u2019t do that, it\u2019s way too hard,\u201d Cannon-Brookes says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m like, hang on, are they fundamentally different? Explain to me the fundamental difference between Liddell and Bayswater. There isn\u2019t one. It\u2019s bullshit. It\u2019s entirely possible to be done. So you\u2019ve just got to go out and do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The difference between Cannon-Brookes and the multiple others who think that way is the fact that he has the resources, and is willing, to lay $650 million on the table to bring the issue to a head.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a big change from the Twitter exchange with Elon Musk that led to the construction of the Tesla big battery in South Australia, or his social media campaign against Scott Morrison\u2019s \u201cfair dinkum\u201d power dismissal of renewable energy.<\/p>\n<p>This is an all in confrontation with a bastion of corporate Australia and one of the most powerful and influential companies in the country. There is much at stake, not just for AGL, but for the rest of the fossil fuel industry, and the country for that matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not philanthropic. It\u2019s not a charitable exercise,\u201d Cannon-Brookes says. But it does mark one of the key moments in Australia\u2019s green energy transition. And the world is watching.<\/p>\n<p><em>The <a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/cannon-brookes-steps-in-to-stop-agl-demerger-fast-track-coal-exit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">content<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/reneweconomy.com.au\/win-or-lose-cannon-brookes-is-forcing-coal-die-hards-to-face-the-future\/\">this article<\/a> was produced by RenewEconomy and republished under a content sharing agreement.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mike Cannon-Brookes&#8217; market raid on AGL, Australia&#8217;s biggest polluter, is putting its slow coal exit plan under scrutiny","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":46357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[598,1995],"tags":[136,73],"coauthors":[4847],"class_list":["post-46355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fossil-fuels","category-pacific","tag-australia","tag-coal","type-analysis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How a tech billionaire is forcing Australia&#039;s coal die-hards to face the future<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mike Cannon-Brookes&#039; market raid on AGL, Australia&#039;s biggest polluter, is putting its slow coal exit plan under scrutiny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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