Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union, South Australia
SA Energy Workers Demand Future Certainty
THURSDAY 21 AUGUST 2025 – South Australian energy workers are demanding certainty for the future amid protracted back-and-forth between AGL and the South Australian government over the future of the Torrens Island B gas-fired power station.
AGL wrote to employees on Friday last week saying that they had reached a non-binding agreement with the South Australian Government extend the plant past its planned 2026 closing, and that they had issued the South Australian Government with an ultimatum to commit to the extension by 30 September this year.
Materials circulated by AEMO today say the extension would bridge a reliability gap created by the closure of Torrens Island B prior to the completion of the Transgrid’s delayed Project EnergyConnect (Stage2) connecting the NSW and South Australian grids.
The project is funded in part by taxpayers with $50m from each of the Federal and South Australian governments, and a $295 million debt facility from ARENA.
Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union of South Australia Secretary John Adley said the uncertainty around the future was causing unnecessary disruption for people trying to plan lives for themselves and their families.
“The people who work at Torrens Island are highly skilled professionals who have been demanding a clear answer about what their future looks like for years,” Mr Adley said.
“They have been told that they will no longer have jobs after next year. Now they are being told that they might have jobs, there’s an agreement, but it isn’t binding.
“It’s an extraordinarily disrespectful way for AGL to treat the people who have kept the lights on in South Australia and the profits rolling in for AGL. It is causing significant distress for people who are trying to plan their future.
“Electrical workers want jobs, but they deserve certainty too. They have skills that are in demand and they want to exercise them, but they are being hampered by a company that appears incapable of giving a clear answer about what is happening in this workplace.
“Governments at a state and federal level, as well as decision-makers in the AGL boardroom, owe South Australian power workers more than an on-again, off-again transition that makes it impossible to plan for the future.
“The Net Zero Economy Authority has been set up to examine how energy jobs are transitioned from one project to the next – AGL has provided them with a case study in how it should not be done.”