– Andrew Bray, RE-Alliance National Director.
Transmission upgrades will divide communities unless they get a seat at the table.
Every time a light is switched on in a farmhouse, or a dairy, or an abattoir, that electricity has likely arrived via a power line that runs across the paddocks of hundreds of farms in Victoria.
We are right in the middle of shifting how we power the country, from a system fuelled primarily by coal to one powered by a mix of clean energy technologies and storage.
In the past three months, 50 per cent of our electricity was generated from sources like wind, solar and hydro.
This increase of renewables in the system pushed wholesale electricity prices down by 44 per cent - now we need to see companies doing the right thing by passing on these savings through electricity bills.
By the end of this decade we'll be approaching 80 per cent renewables.
But we're at a sticking point.
If we want the irrigators to keep pumping, the fridges to stay cool, and the telly to stay on at night, we have to get on with the job of fixing how we move electricity around Victoria, because it was designed and built more than 40 years ago. Transmission projects like VNI West and Western Renewables Link are how we do this.
Early consultation with farmers has been woeful, so we have to reset and get on with the job of building these things in a way that works for farmers, that protects natural ecosystems, and that delivers actual benefits to surrounding communities.
We know that farming will continue under these new power lines, as it has done for decades across Victoria.
We started calling for better payments for farmers hosting transmission five years ago.
This call was heard by governments but we know there's more to do.
There is a real appetite among regional communities for a seat at the table in shaping legacy benefits like better roads, housing infrastructure and energy discounts for entire postcodes.
There are countless councillors, council staff, leaders of community organisations, farmers and passionate locals who want to get the best outcomes for their communities.
So here's an open invitation to all political parties thinking about their position on projects like VNI West or Western Renewables Link: engage with these guys and make this once in-a-generation change work for rural and regional Victoria.
This piece by Andrew Bray was published in The Weekly Times on 18 February.