POWER AND THE PASSION: Hunter energy transition in focus as electrical fitter Nathan Clements looks to Hunter power future

The 26-year-old is an electrical fitter and has worked in mining-related industry for seven years. The son of a coalminer, he grew up in Singleton and knows how valuable coal is to the region.

But Mr Clements is preparing himself for life after coal, studying commerce part-time at the University of Newcastle.

"Mainly because I see a future transition for myself and I want to branch out. Part of it is also that the future of the industry seems pretty inevitable to me," he told the Newcastle Herald.

Mr Clements said he wants to avoid being left with no options when coal mining does wind down. But he is worried about what his colleagues are going to do.

"It has me concerned in a sense about what the future holds. Where are my co workers going to work in 20 years time, will there be enough work to keep them in their current jobs?"

With coal prices at record highs and the Australian government forecasting exports to South East Asia to grow over the next two years, the industry could have decades left in it for the Hunter.

But there's every possibility changes in government policy and action from the private sector could mean the end of coal a lot sooner than expected.

He understands what that would mean for the region.

"It's not just the workers within the mine itself but also the surrounding area. So in the town, the shops, the retail, everything else is all very much dependent on the success of the coal mines."

But he believes that until there are viable alternatives to employment in the mining industry, there's unlikely to be much movement from workers as the cost of living continues to climb.

"You have people working in a coal mine looking at $120,000 a year plus and you're asking them to change to a job in the renewable energy sector for $80,000 - based on climate morality," he said. "When petrol is nearing two dollars a litre and houses are almost completely unaffordable."

Executive director at the Ethics Centre, Dr Simon Longstaff, co-authored an eight point blueprint outlining a transition away from fossil fuel in 2016.

'Action Five' of the plan outlines the need for a "just and orderly transition", for people like Mr Clements and his colleagues.

"It's about looking at what are the essential requirements of a community and whether they're being satisfied in the circumstances before change commences," Dr Longstaff said.

Dr Longstaff says the needs of communities, like the Hunter, are often misunderstood and at times taken advantage of.

"It's not so much the opportunity to go into the pit every day. What they want is the opportunity to make provision for their families to be able to live reasonably decent lives," he said. "So when people prey on fear of loss and don't actually provide any reasonable prospect of an alternative, I think they're actually manipulating people in a relatively vulnerable position."

Mr Clements said that while the renewable energy industry may be a way off from it's coal-led counterpart, mining wages didn't start out at current levels.

"The coal mines have been around for so long, [they're] heavily unionised, they have fought, taken action, achieved the conditions and wages that they're on," he said. "The renewable energy sector hasn't had that chance yet. So to ask coal miners to do that, right now, today, there's not going to be many yeses."

This report appears as part of the Newcastle Herald's 'Power and the Passion' special report investigating the Hunter's energy transition away from coal-fired power to renewable energy alternatives. Read the full series here, and listen to the Voice of Real Australia podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform.

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