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Interesting discussion.
The idea of central generation of electricity creates more dependency. A 'smart grid' with consumers and businesses generating electricity for each other would make less dependency.
Solar panels on your roof (even here in the EU with far less sunshine tha AU it is getting more commonplace), heat pumps for heating or aircon and using the grid for using the surplus to other users.
Of course this will not make high voltage grids unnecessary, but it at least helps for more indepenency.
I saw in South Africa that they are hardly using solar panels, despite much sunshine (like most parts of AU other than Tas or Vic). They are heavily dependant on coal fired power stations, but also on very poor management of Eskom which is the state operator of the entire grid and the only electricity supplier to customers. Far worse than Australia.
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