Western Australian taxpayers will continue to support foreign-owned coal mines vital to the state’s main electricity grid after Premier Roger Cook said the lights would go out if they failed.

Mr Cook revealed this morning that the state government will extend yet another lifeline to the distressed Griffin Coal mine near Collie, 180km south of Perth.

The mine has been in receivership since 2021, when its Indian owners pulled out after years of operational difficulties and mounting losses.

Griffin is more than $1 billion in debt.

Mr Cook told a news conference in Corrie that the government would ultimately spend more than $300 million in grants to Griffin’s operations under a funding agreement that expires in June.

The prime minister had previously emphasized that there would be no more funding once the deal ended, but he acknowledged that his position had changed.

He said under the new “in-principle” agreement, Griffin’s operating license would be extended for up to five years, while customers would pay more for the coal it supplies.

Those customers include Bluewaters, a 440MW coal-fired power plant that produces about 15 percent of the electricity generated on Washington state’s largest grid.

But Mr Cook said the government still needed to inject money to keep Griffin afloat, albeit at “significantly” lower interest rates than previously.

Mr Cook said: “Once we have a deal, we will reveal all these costs to Parliament.”

The Prime Minister said the latest agreement and the hundreds of millions of dollars already spent were aimed at providing some certainty to the coal mining and power generation industry, which is struggling amid rapid change.

He said the government had “inherited several broken and unsustainable contracts that represent risks to energy security”.

At the center of these remarks is a historic contract between Griffin and its major customer, Blue Waters, under which miners were forced to sell coal at a loss.

Mr Cooke said while there were problems with these arrangements, both Griffin and Bluewaters were needed until at least 2030 and a compromise was essential.

“If we hadn’t intervened, we would have turned off the lights in Western Australia,” he said.

“That’s unacceptable. That’s why I intervened like that.”

The end of coal is “banseki”

Despite the extension of Griffin’s state deal, the Prime Minister and Energy Minister Amber Jade Sanderson insisted the government’s timetable for the closure of state-run coal power stations remains on track.

The government plans to close the Koli and Muja generators in 2027 and 2029, respectively. Some observers have called the move unrealistic.

Mr Sanderson said a wave of renewable energy investment was about to hit WA’s mainline electricity grid.

He acknowledged that while some projects, including proposed wind farms, will not come to fruition, there are enough others to go ahead and replace coal.

“I think it’s important that people understand that [state-owned power stations] Don’t rely on Griffin,” Sanderson said.

“My retirement date has been decided.

“These are assets that are really at the end of their life and are going to struggle to the end.

“Therefore, extending these assets to the state is not an option.”

The Prime Minister also announced a ‘transition taskforce’ to develop detailed proposals for the future of coal assets in the Collie region.

It will also examine whether the two coal mines in the area can be mined more efficiently by one entity, as well as the issue of mine remediation.

Greg Basson, from the Mining and Energy Union, said the new arrangement was sensible.

He said the extension period would be welcome relief for miners tired of short-term corrections.

“The Government’s commitment to extend support for a further five years is a pragmatic and responsible intervention that will keep people in jobs and give workers and Corrie communities the certainty they need during the transition period,” Mr Busson said.

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