It was a worksite briefing that Eraring power station workers were not prepared for, when Origin Energy bosses delivered the news that the plant's previous closure date of 2032 had been brought forward to 2025.
Plant manager Tony Phillips said the decision, although early, was "not a complete surprise" and allowed workers time to transition.
"However, I didn’t think at this point in time we would be putting in three-and-a-half years' notice, so that is a surprise to our people and that brings uncertainty," he said.
"As I said, our focus is now on supporting workers and options for redeployment and retraining."
But the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says its members have been shocked by the decision, with state secretary Cory Wright saying they've had no guarantees around career support or redeployment.
"The announcement of this, there are a lot of heavy heads out there today with nothing tangible for them to touch," he said.
No guarantees for workers
Speaking to 7.30 host Leigh Sales, Origin chief executive Frank Calabria said he could not guarantee the company would redeploy all of the workers.
"But we are certainly working through every one of our employees on an individual basis, everyone will be in their own circumstances," he said.
"We're certainly confident of redeploying our employees to sites on the roll over a longer term, but there will be a lesser number of roles and working to redeploy them more broadly across Origin as opportunities arise.
"In addition to that, we'll also really work on enhancing and building new skills for them."
Greg Piper, the state Member for Lake Macquarie, has a son working at Eraring and said the impact on jobs in the area would be significant.
"There are 240 workers employed at the station along with another 200 contractors and associated industries across the community," he said.
"We now just have to face up to that and make sure that we do work really hard to look after those people who will be displaced."
Eraring is the biggest of 16 remaining coal-fired power plants supplying the National Energy Market (NEM), with seven of those already scheduled to close by 2035.
Eraring is Origin's only coal-fired power station, meaning the company will generate power from a combination of renewables and gas going forward.
Remediation a priority
Origin has said it was committed to moving ahead with its massive site remediation plans at Eraring once the coal-fired plant closed.
Mr Calabria said the works were a priority as the site transitioned to battery power.
"These costs will continue to be reviewed and are expected to be incurred over several years post any closure, with the timing dependent, in part, on a potential battery investment and ongoing ash dam operations."
Mr Phillips said Origin was fully committed to the ash dam and stabilisation works.
The ash dam's wall has been deemed at risk of collapsing in the event of an earthquake and forced the closure of the nearby Myuna Bay Sport and Recreation Centre.
Origin, meanwhile, said the plant's earlier closure would allow it to achieve the emissions reduction goals of the Paris climate agreement.
