Mark Dearey (Green Party)

With regard to the public service obligation, peat is a relatively expensive way of generating electricity per kilowatt-hour. As long as oil prices are high, peat will be competitive as power can be produced at roughly the same cost as oil. When oil prices drop, as they have done, peat becomes an expensive way to produce electricity. Without the levy, the people working in those power stations in the midlands, close to the Senator's home, would temporarily lose their jobs.