Here's what you need to know today.
Emergency powers to direct coal supply
New South Wales Treasurer and Energy Minister Matt Kean has been granted emergency powers to direct coal companies to provide fuel for electricity generators.
NSW Governor Margaret Beazley granted Mr Kean the powers at a meeting on Thursday night.
The ABC understands Mr Kean sought the emergency powers as a "precautionary measure" to ensure the state's electricity supply.
An energy supply crisis has been hitting the eastern states this week, resulting in the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) suspend the national energy market for the first time on Wednesday afternoon.
The AEMO said electricity reserves had since improved but a number of generators were still offline, and it warned there were challenges due to fuel costs and sourcing issues.
Mega cycle and pedestrian pathway
The NSW Government has announced plans to build a 91 kilometre pathway linking the Sydney Opera House on the Harbour to Parramatta Park in the city's west.
$60 million will be included in next week's budget to go towards what will be the longest pathway in Sydney.
It will allow pedestrians and cyclists to travel through 18 suburbs, along Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River.
Some of the funds will go towards the design, as well as finding solutions for the remaining inaccessible foreshore sections.
Western Sydney power bill fears
Advocacy group Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) is pushing for greater government rebates to help more than 100,000 families pay their electricity bills.
WSROC president Barry Calvert said some residents would see a 50 per cent rise in their bill over the comings months.
He said residents would be wondering: "Where am I going to get that money from?"
"I have to make a choice on what I spend my money on — cut back on groceries [or] cut back on child care, because many of the houses in Western Sydney are built to run on air conditioning," he said.
Electricity prices are expected to increase by 18 per cent from July 1, while gas prices are expected to go up a 200 per cent.
Push for more women in construction
The Property Council of Australia has backed a state government plan to get be more women on job sites across NSW.
Women currently make up less than 5 per cent of construction workers but the government hopes to grow that to 15 per cent in the next 10 years.
The plan will see $20 million go towards construction-site initiatives that encourage training.
Property Council NSW executive director Luke Achterstraat said his organisation had long advocated for an increase of women in the sector.
"Even though the industry has made great progress in recent years, there still aren't enough women working in property and construction, and only 28 per cent of leadership roles are held by women," Mr Achterstraat said.
"Today's announcement will ensure that more women choose a career in property, choose to stay and are given more opportunities to excel because there is a myriad of benefits both for them and the industry."
Inquiry into teacher shortage
A NSW upper house committee will today hold an inquiry into the state's teacher shortages.
Teachers have taken strike action this year, calling for better pay and conditions and saying they have been overworked and short-staffed.
A 2021 report by Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership found more than half of the state's full-time teaching staff reported working 60 hours a week on average while only being paid for 36 to 40 hours.
Mark Latham, who is chairing the committee, said the committee would undertake a comprehensive examination of "both the factors contributing to the shortages and the best ways to address them".
"Teacher shortages are a serious problem impacting on the learning of children across the state in very real ways," he said.
Teachers, parents and community members are invited to make submissions to the committee until the end of July.
Findings will be presented in August.
Call for extra year of school to include remote areas
Parents of children who live in isolated areas of NSW are lobbying to make sure all children will be able to access a planned extra year of school no matter where they live.
Under the state government plan to be introduced by 2030, four- and five-year-olds would attend school five days a week, free of charge.
President of the NSW Isolated Children's Parents Association, Tanya Mitchell, said any strategy and workforce development needed to ensure remote families could access the service.
"For some of our members, they live hundreds of kilometres from the nearest preschool," she said.
"In that instance, there are distance-education options but it's still not accessible for everyone.
"There is concern that a lot of this will advantage our metropolitan counterparts, however, we will continue to advocate for our members in rural and remote areas."
Rise in bronchiolitis
NSW emergency departments are seeing a rise in babies suffering from the lung condition bronchiolitis.
More than 600 babies and toddlers from newborn to four years old were diagnosed with the illness this week, while 519 of them were hospitalised.
The viral condition begins like a cold and can progress to severe breathing problems.
