The Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) is the first in Australia relying on upgrading and better utilising existing distribution poles and wires. It is intended to improve the capacity of the network and help bring more renewable generation capacity into the system more rapidly and at less cost to consumers.
It is critical to ensure REZ projects are implemented and structured to minimise cost and risk to the people of NSW.
That’s why we made a number of observations and recommendations in our response to the Australian Energy Regulator’s (AER) Hunter Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Network Infrastructure Project Preliminary Position Paper, including:
- That the AER limit additional costs to consumers using mechanisms like maximum caps on revenue recovery;
- that consumer engagement by EnergyCo, AEMO, and network businesses be made compulsory under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment (EII) Act, and
- that ‘social licence’ spending be reframed to ‘community inclusion’ spending, to better reflect why these activities are important, while making it easier to target and evaluate their impact.
What’s next?
Upgrading energy networks to implement the transition is a complex process. We’ll continue to monitor the implementation of the NSW Roadmap, alongside other reforms and investments to advocate for the people of NSW and ensure this and other projects are efficiently planned and rolled out, with costs shared fairly.
