SW plants on carbon tax hit-list

A number of prominent companies with South West mines and power stations, including Alcoa Australia, BHP Billiton and Verve Energy,will have to cough up extra cash under the Federal Government’s proposed carbon tax plan.

The tax will be paid by 500 of Australia’s more energy-intensive companies which produce more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Other companies with sites in the South West which have made the carbon tax hit-list include Alinta, Wesfarmers, Simcoa, Iluka and Millennium Inorganic Chemicals.

Others which are expected to be taxed include Transpacific Industries Group, formally South West Waste, Griffin Energy and Transfield Worley Power Services.

The companies liable to pay the tax must produce more than 25,000 tonnes of carbon at each site, a site being a facility involved in a production activity.

Companies over the threshold, but with operations spread across multiple sites, each under the 25,000 tonne cut-off, will escape scrutiny.

This means companies such as the Water Corporation, which produces around 586,000 tonnes of carbon each year but only 4000 tonnes at the Bunbury Waste Water Treatment Plant, will not be taxed.

All companies said they were still working through the complex legislation and it would be some time before they could determine the full impact of the proposal.

Under the tax, big polluters will report their emissions and buy a carbon permit for every tonne of carbon pollution they produce.

Energy-intensive industries, such as steel, aluminium, zinc and pulp and paper producers, will initially get 94.5 per cent of their carbon permits free and lower emitters will get 66 per cent free.

Before free permits and compensation, which will provide substantial financial support to companies, are taken into account, the $23 a tonne price will equal a minimum of $575,000 per site.

Verve Energy, which emits 8.4 million tonnes from its Muja and Collie power station sites, said it estimated the tax would add about $200 million a year to the cost of power generation.