NSW Government Publishes Final Report on NSW Transmission Planning Review

Key Takeaways

The NSW Government released the Final Report of the NSW Transmission Planning Review (Review) on 14 October 2025, together with its formal response, bringing to a close a seven-month review into electricity transmission planning arrangements in NSW. The Review was commissioned following the Electricity Supply and Reliability Check Up undertaken in 2023 to review delivery of the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap (Roadmap) and which identified transmission planning in NSW as overly complicated.

Rather than a wholesale, radical reform, the Final Report presents a package of 15 recommendations which propose incremental reforms to reduce complexity and strengthen electricity network planning arrangements in NSW. The recommendations are divided between short, medium and longer term reforms to reduce complexity of transmission planning, speed up delivery of transmission projects and ensure meaningful engagement is undertaken at all times.

Key takeaways of the Final Report and recommendations include:

• Reducing complexity and jurisdictional overlap: clarifying and ultimately expanding the Energy Corporation of NSW's (EnergyCo) existing planning function to include coordinating planning of strategic network projects across NSW. The intent is to remove or otherwise reduce some of the complexity and overlap between EnergyCo, Transgrid, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and AEMO Services Limited's (ASL) functions. The review also proposes increasing EnergyCo's resources and ability to attract and retain specialist staff to manage its increased scope and responsibility in the energy transition.
• Timely delivery of projects: legislative changes to the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020 (NSW) (EII Act) are proposed to accelerate planning and delivery of upcoming projects including the process to authorise Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) projects and to clarify responsibility for system strength planning in REZs. The amendments are intended to be made by the end of 2025 to apply to the planning of the New England REZ. In the longer term, these amendments will also clarify which projects are planned under the EII Act as opposed to the National Electricity Rules (NER).
• Contestability: formalising a clearer criteria for which projects should be procured on a contestable or non-contestable basis. There is also more robust ring-fencing and dispute resolution mechanisms proposed for network-to-network connections.
• Meaningful engagement: implementing best practice engagement with consumers and local communities and transparency in decision making. There is a strong recommendation for the establishment of both a Consumer Panel and a Community Panel, with real influence over planning decisions, and for embedding best-practice engagement obligations in legislation. This is seen as essential not only for maintaining social licence but also for reducing project delays and community opposition.
• Enhanced co-ordination of planning across NSW: several longer term reforms are designed to enhance transmission planning between EnergyCo, TNSPS, DNSPs and AEMO across NSW (and the NEM). This includes the co-ordination of different NSW planning reports and adopting a “whole-of-system” approach to longer term transmission planning that integrates distribution network and non-network options (such as demand response, distributed storage, and CER).

Table 1 below contains a summary of all 15 recommendations.

Copies of the Final Report presenting the Review Panel's final recommendations, and the government's position on those recommendations are available here.

Why is this important?

The NSW transmission planning landscape is set for significant reform, with a strong focus on reducing complexity, integrating distribution and non-network options, enhancing community engagement, and improving governance and transparency. However, the transition to a more streamlined and coordinated framework will require careful management of short-term risks, particularly around contestability, state-national coordination, and the resourcing of key planning bodies. Project developers, sponsors and financiers should take these reforms into account when considering and developing projects in NSW.

The NSW Government's response and next steps

The NSW Government in its response to the Final Report has stated that it "broadly accepts the Review's comprehensive package of recommendations which propose incremental reforms to strengthen electricity network planning arrangements". However, the government considers that realising their full potential will "take time to get right". Therefore, several of the recommendations have been accepted "in principle" with the government reserving its position as to the optimal timing and scope of the suggested reforms, as showing in Table 1 below.

Nevertheless, all of the "immediate actions" to accelerate planning and delivery of upcoming projects (Recommendations A.1, A.2 and A.3) are said to be underway and form part of the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, with the workstreams having been progressing in parallel. The ambition is that early implementation of these recommendations will ensure they apply to critical transmission projects, such as the New England REZ.

If you have any queries or would like to discuss any matters arising from the NSW Transmission Planning Review, please reach out to a member of the Projects and Energy Transition team or Planning, Access and Environment team.

Table 1: Final Report Recommendations and NSW Government's response