Major miners could receive millions in compensation for coal price caps. 

State government insiders have told reporters that coal power stations in New South Wales will receive up to $500 million in compensation after the Albanese government legislated a temporary price cap of $12 a gigajoule for gas and $125 a tonne for coal late last year. 

But the cap should see compensation paid to Australia’s biggest generator, the Origin-owned Eraring power station to Newcastle’s south, along with coal stations at Bayswater, Liddell, Mount Piper and Vales Point B.

“Details of the financial assistance are currently being finalised with the NSW government,” spokesperson for the federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, told reporters this week. 

The potential for $500 million in compensation for NSW was revealed just days after reports of a $450 million payout figure for Rio Tinto and its Gladstone power station partners in Queensland. 

The Prime Minister has disputed that figure. 

“No, those reports are just that, they are reports … We expect that [for Gladstone] it will be nothing like the sort of figures that I’ve seen in the newspaper,” he said. 

Federal government insiders have claimed that the total price of compensation nationwide will be between $500 million and $1 billion, but no further details have been provided thus far.