The wrong plant.
The wrong place.A 703 MW gas-fired power station proposed between Moss Vale, Burradoo and New Berrima — 500 metres from the closest homes, in the heart of a precinct Council has designated for clean, innovative industry.While some hope this project will lower local power bills, the engineering reality tells a different story. The developer's own reports state that on-site gas generation is necessary 'due to a lack of grid electricity' from the regional supplier. The surrounding precinct runs on 33kV distribution lines, which cannot physically accept power feed-in from a facility of this scale. Exporting electricity would require a multi-million-dollar transmission infrastructure overhaul — upgrades that are neither planned nor approved. Every megawatt generated stays behind closed doors for private data workloads. The community gets the emissions and none of the benefit.The case against it spans planning, health, land use and climate — and it is being made by a growing coalition of residents, farmers, health professionals, tourism operators and community groups.
The proposal is now before the NSW Land & Environment Court. There are real, practical steps you can take to add your voice to the regional case against it.
Just want updates? Stay informed →
Write to your local MP.
Letters from constituents are the single most effective signal an MP receives — more than petitions, more than emails, more than social media. A letter from someone in their electorate, in their own words, lands differently.
We've drafted one you can personalise, copy or download. It takes about two minutes.
Why this proposal
is wrong for the Highlands.
A 703 MW gas-fired power station proposed between Moss Vale, Burradoo and New Berrima — 500 metres from the closest homes, in the heart of a precinct Council has designated for clean, innovative industry.
While some hope this project will lower local power bills, the engineering reality tells a different story. The developer's own reports state that on-site gas generation is necessary 'due to a lack of grid electricity' from the regional supplier. The surrounding precinct runs on 33kV distribution lines, which cannot physically accept power feed-in from a facility of this scale. Exporting electricity would require a multi-million-dollar transmission infrastructure overhaul — upgrades that are neither planned nor approved. Every megawatt generated stays behind closed doors for private data workloads. The community gets the emissions and none of the benefit.
No community benefit
Built to power a private data centre — not Highlands homes, local businesses, or the electricity grid. Cloud Carrier's own materials describe the campus as designed for complete independence from the grid. That is their commercial proposition: guaranteed, uninterruptible private power. The community takes on the impacts. It receives nothing in return.
Health and air quality
The developer's documents confirm they are installing Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology designed to reduce NOx emissions. Even so, a fossil-fuel facility of this scale will still introduce a continuous baseline stream of emissions just 500 metres from local homes. The Southern Highlands is known for clean air and food production. This proposal is incompatible with both.
Wrong land use
The site falls within Council's Southern Highlands Innovation Park precinct. The masterplan designates this land as an innovation corridor — clean, advanced manufacturing and research, explicitly described as "not your typical industrial park." Once heavy industry is anchored here, more will follow. The exhaust structures would reach 23.5 metres, well beyond the Masterplan's 12-metre height limit for this zone.
Long-term climate cost
A new gas plant locks in decades of fossil fuel burning at exactly the moment NSW is moving in the opposite direction. Doing this in 2026, to power a data centre, means using outdated, polluting technology to run the infrastructure of the future. There are cleaner alternatives. This is not a necessary trade-off — it is a choice.
Stay informed
We'll be in touch only when there's something worth knowing — a key hearing date, a submission window, or a significant development in the case.
A broad case,
not a single voice.
This campaign is being built as a coalition of Highlands voices — so that decision-makers hear the same concerns from every part of the community. We're inviting groups and individuals to stand alongside us as the case moves through the Land & Environment Court and into the broader debate about the region's future.
- ●Residents and ratepayers
- ●Farmers and agricultural producers
- ●Health professionals
- ●Tourism and hospitality operators
- ●Local businesses
- ●Environmental groups and Landcare
- ●First Nations voices
- ●Faith and community organisations
- ●Founding and strategic supporter: Southern Highlands Greens
Three ways to help today
- 1. Write to your MP — the most effective two minutes you can spend
- 2. Add your name to the petition below
- 3. Forward this page to one neighbour or local group
Stay updated — get updates as the case progresses
ADD YOUR NAME
Your name and postcode help demonstrate the scale and geography of community concern as the case progresses.