The Transmission Planning Review (the Review) considered transmission planning arrangements in NSW and made recommendations for reform.
The Review commenced in February 2025 and concluded in September 2025.
Final Report and Government response
The NSW Government published the Final Report and its formal response on 14 October 2025.
The Final Report builds on the interim report following stakeholder consultation. The final recommendations outline critical pathways to support the energy transition, including the need for enhanced transmission planning and improved coordination across all levels of government and industry.
The Government response to the Final Report sets out the government’s position on the recommendations of the Review.
The NSW Government accepts the Review’s recommendations and recognises the need for reform to improve planning arrangements. Some recommendations are accepted in principle to maintain flexibility to refine the approach during implementation. In particular, the NSW Government considers that the reform timeline proposed by the Review Panel is ambitious and that realising the full ambition of several recommendations may take time.
The NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (the department) acknowledges and thanks the Review Panel for their work delivering this review and set of recommendations. We also extend our appreciation to all stakeholders whose inputs have been essential for the final outputs of this review.
Steps for implementation
The Department in collaboration with EnergyCo will take the lead in coordinating both the delivery of the reforms and engagement with stakeholders across government, industry and the community.
In parallel, the NSW Government continues to progress several critical and time-sensitive reform initiatives, which have been informed by the Review. Specifically, the Review Panel identified the following actions for immediate implementation, which are being addressed by the introduction of the Energy Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 to Parliament:
- A.1 Streamline REZ network infrastructure project authorisations.
- A.2 Strengthen regulation of network-to-network connections.
- A.3 Clarify accountabilities for system strength planning in REZs and improve coordination.
The Interim report included recommendation A.4, to remove barriers to planning distribution projects under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020 (EII Act).
This recommendation was implemented prior to the release of the Final Report after the passing of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment (Priority Network Projects) Bill 2025 in August 2025. This recommendation was therefore not included in the Final Report.
The Review was a recommendation of Electricity Supply and Reliability Check Up report (the Check Up), which identified reform and further work needed to deliver the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap. The Roadmap coordinates investment in new transmission, renewable generation, storage and firming infrastructure to ensure NSW has an electricity system that provides affordable, clean and reliable energy for everyone.
The Check Up recommended the Review advise on the best way to coordinate transmission planning between:
- TransGrid
- EnergyCo
- Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)
- AEMO Services
The Minister authorised the Review, which was conducted in line with the Terms of Reference.
The Review Panel led multiple rounds of stakeholder consultation, including through submissions, to an Interim Report.
The Review Panel published an initial Consultation Paper (PDF, 355 kB) in February 2025.
Following the release of the Consultation Paper in February 2025, the Review Panel undertook extensive stakeholder engagements to seek feedback on issues with the current transmission planning arrangements in NSW and options for reforms.
The Review Panel then released an Options Paper (PDF, 1.8 MB) setting out a detailed problem definition, final assessment framework, and proposing a range of options for reform. This consultation informed the development of the Interim Report.
The Review Panel released a Transmission Planning Review Interim Report (PDF, 2.35 MB) which provides a series of draft recommendations to address key issues identified with current transmission planning arrangements in NSW.
The recommendations in the Interim Report build upon the options set out in the Options Paper released in April 2025 and extensive stakeholder engagement. Over the course of seven months, the Review Panel engaged with stakeholders through more than 80 written submissions and over 50 meetings and workshops.
The 4 week stakeholder submission period for the Interim Report has now closed. Stakeholder submissions received in response to the Interim Report are available in the Related documents section.
The Review Panel hosted an online public webinar on 22 July 2025 to provide further stakeholder engagement on the Interim Report. The webinar included presentations from the Review Panel and a Q&A session informed by participants.
Related documents
Read the below for more information:
- Minister's Authorisation of the Review (PDF, 1.2 MB)
- Terms of Reference (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- Consultation Paper (PDF, 355 kB)
- Options Paper (PDF, 1.8 MB)
- Interim Report (PDF, 2.35 MB)
- Stakeholder submissions in response to the Interim Report (ZIP, 15 MB)
- Final Report (PDF, 3.2 MB)
- Government Response (PDF, 691 kB)