We thank the NSW Government for the opportunity to comment on the Draft Network Infrastructure Strategy (NIS).
We consider that the Draft NIS adds value and that it should in future accompany the Infrastructure Investment Objectives (IIO) Report.
We also consider that transmission planning reform is in a quickly evolving space nationally. We were impressed recently by the Victorian Government’s new proposed Victorian Transmission Investment Framework Preliminary Design Consultation Paper.
We consider that both the national transmission planning and investment framework and the NSW framework can be improved with reference to the proposed new early strategic planning process which will take on the views of communities early in the process before the regulatory investment test process and a strategic land use assessment (SLUA) geospatial mapping exercise to identify the lowest impact corridors for transmission development and new generation. We commend the VTIF paper to EnergyCo for their consideration.