Nearly six-in-ten residents in Barnaby Joyce's electorate don't want the country to be "powered solely by renewable energy", according to a poll commissioned by the federal MP.
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About 3,354 New England residents answered a phone poll by IVR in March.
Asked if they "believe NSW should push ahead with closing their coal-fired power stations and be powered solely by renewable energy", a strong majority said no.
Some 729 per cent of respondents answered yes, representing 42.91 per cent of all responses. About 57 per cent or 1023 people said no.
The automatic phone poll had a big enough sample size to get a reasonably accurate and representative result, Mr Joyce said.
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The New England was last year legislated to be the state's largest renewable energy zone (REZ), with nearly $13 billion of investment slated for the region.
It shows the electorate is against a massive build-out of renewables in the area, he said.
"I think that would be a fair," Mr Joyce said.
Mr Joyce said he wasn't sure if the poll would poke holes in the case for the REZ.
"That is the politics of how people sell it," he said.
"As I've said to the proponents I don't have a problem if you don't deliver me a problem. But if I have people coming into my office complaining, then my job is to represent them."
Mr Joyce said he was surprised at the level of support for closing coal-fired power stations, despite the poll showing more opposition than support.
"To be honest I don't hold the same view," he said.
Asked if the industry had a social licence he said no industry had a blank cheque to do whatever it liked "with no checks or balances".
"I don't believe anybody's got a social licence with no checks or balances. Everything in moderation works. If we were going to put coal fired power plants up and down the length and breadth of the New England, people would get annoyed," he said.
"You put in one or two, that's alright. Everything is accepted to a point and then it creates issues."
Asked which "best reflects their views", a plurality of 36.52 per cent of respondents said they wanted a "renewables only" energy grid. About 29 per cent said they wanted a "balance" including gas and coal, and another 34.56 per cent said they also wanted nuclear power.
An online survey that was conducted alongside the phone poll was ditched after being trolled by various pressure groups.
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