Australia’s largest coal-fired power station has had its retirement delayed by 2 years after the NSW Government penned a deal that will see taxpayers pay up to $450 million to keep the lights on for longer than planned… Origin Energy, which owns the Eraring station at Lake Macquarie, originally planned to close it in August 2025 – but there have been concerns over whether that could cause reliability gaps in the NSW energy market during its slow transition to renewable energy. Cue concerns over a potential uptick in power outages… Premier Chris Minns yesterday said the deal means “certainty for households and businesses” as the state moves towards its net zero goals. But critics from the renewable energy sector say it wasn’t necessary, and is just “another massive coal subsidy funded by electricity users in NSW”.