In a world of global warming, carbon trading and climate change society is fast to focus on the negative impact of power production, but is the case as bad as people fear?
Port Augusta has had a long and rich history with electricity generation - the industry was one of the two main employers in the city during the 1980s, but how did the privatisation of ETSA really affect the town?
Did the State Government do enough to protect Port Augusta workers once the dangers of asbestos became known?
Some members of the Asbestosis Victims Association think not.
Northern Regional Development Board chief executive officer Jerry Johnson does not agree that downsizing at ETSA was as bad for the city as originally thought however.
"The social dysfunction was massive and created a really sombre mood for the Upper Spencer Gulf," Mr Johnson said.
"(But) the diversity of its current economy is now this city's strength.
"All cities in the Upper Spencer Gulf experienced downsizing of main industry in the nineties … (but) Port Augusta's geography forces it to be a service centre for the north"
In recent years the Northern Power station and Playford Power station have been privatised and are now owned by Flinders Power, which is a seperate entity to ETSA.
The downsizing at the stations occurred when the sites were owned by the State Government and saw a staff of about 1000 decrease to just more than 200.
Flinders Power still supplies the State with 40 per cent of its power and although it was ETSA which downsized, Flinders Power is proud to be involved in the Port Augusta community Port Augusta managing director Andre Kuys said.
Flinders Power put back into a community that supported them, Mr Kuys said.
The company employs roughly 20 consistent apprentices and three clerical trainees, which Mr Kuys believes is investing in the city and industry's future.
And with three million tons of coal a year being used by stations it is not just employment in Port Augusta that the company provides.
The brown coal used in Port Augusta is sourced from the Leigh Creek coalfields and transported via rail link to the city.
"It is a lot larger scale production than people realise," Mr Kuys said.
But Professor Malcolm Thompson from the faculty of science at Flinders University is wary of the use of brown coal over black.
It was recently reported that much more brown coal was needed to burn to produce the same effect as black coal, Prof Thompson said.
"This makes it worse for the greenhouse effect."
Countless jobs in Port Augusta, Leigh Creek and on the rail lines aside, the Northern and Playford power stations annually emit 1,400,000 kg of carbon monoxide, 14,000,000 kg of oxides of nitrogen, 11,000,000kg of sulphur dioxide and 270kg of arsenic.
But it is not how it all seems claimed Flinders Power in response to questioned posed by The Transcontinental.
Flinders Power complies with strict licence conditions, is regularly monitored and has environmental management plans a company spokesperson said.
Ninety-five percent of arsenic produced from the burning of coal is bound inorganic arsenic and is captured and discharged into ash ponds to settle, the spokesperson said.
Mr Kuys agreed that the threat to Port Augusta's population was non-existent as the power station produced less arsenic than was found naturally anyway.
"We settle the ash which contains the arsenic … it (then) gets taken away and used to make cement," Mr Kuys said.
"It is all very safe."
While the arsenic produced by the station had no apparent impact on the environment or human health, there is still the concern that millions of tons of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide being emitted annually however.
"Like all industrial processes, the power stations clearly produce some chemical waste," a company spokesperson said.
"It is important to note that the Augusta power stations are critical to development and economic health of South Australia."
But Port Augusta no longer relies on big industry, and is now a tourism driven economy believes Mr Johnson.
"The city has learned from its mistake of putting all its eggs in one basket (National Rail and ETSA)."Looking at the figures Flinders Power relatively more efficient than ETSA was.
Overall emissions are down and the company meets all environmental regulations put forward by the Environmental Protection Authority, a company spokesperson said.
About $180 million was spent on refurbishing the Playford Station to bring it in line with environmental standards through Flinders Power, as well as the company recently spending $25 million on reducing greenhouse emissions at both facilities.
ETSA it seems mismanaged the sites with a number of past workers laying claims against the State Government for asbestosis.
Port Augusta Asbestos Victims Association president Geoffrey Maul was discontent with the way ETSA handled their operations after the dangers of asbestos was made aware.
"It's not Flinders Power who are at fault, it's the (State) Government," Mr Maul said.
Acknowledging that the effects of asbestos were not known when it was used at the Augusta stations, Mr Maul is still discontent with action taken by ETSA to protect workers.
"Both the stations were riddled with asbestos," Mr Maul said.
"People didn't know back then that it was harmful, but (once they discovered the harm of asbestos) the power station didn't rip it out and replace it like they should have.
"Instead they brought in different means of working with it."
One positive thing Mr Maul saw in his time with ETSA, was the utilisation of papier-mache to prevent coal dust.
"It's brilliant in stopping dust and is better for people on the east side," he said.
"Then they planted old man saltbush and it's bloody good now … there is almost no dust."
It seems that Flinders Power were actively involved in the cleaner and more efficient production of electricity, Mr Maul said.
A company spokesperson said the environment around the station was quite healthy.
"It is also comparable to other areas of the northern Spencer Gulf. In other words, the operation has had no discernible impact," the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency said the company did not keep a record of its coal dust emissions, but as part of its licence it maintains five particle monitors around the power station.
Renewable energy is also something the company is investing in Mr Kuys said.
"They are putting wind farms up … but the technology is not that far advances to provide suitable megawatts for the state."
Regardless it seems that the Augusta power stations are here to stay for the time being.
The Transport, Energy and Infrastructure Department did not reply to The Transcontinental’s questions before printing deadline.
Figures sourced from the National Pollutant Inventory for the year 2006/2007 and can be viewed on www.npi.gov.au