Critical Analysis of the Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan

Power Without Consent: A Vision Shaped by Omission and Contradiction

Executive Summary
Submitted: 20 May 2025
By: Energy Grid Alliance

This submission was made as part of the formal consultation process on the Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP), released by VicGrid.

The analysis, titled “Power Without Consent: A Vision Shaped by Omission and Contradiction”, offers a critical review of the draft plan’s structural, procedural, and regulatory foundations. While the VTP presents itself as a roadmap for Victoria’s energy transition, this review finds that the plan is built on flawed assumptions, a lack of genuine scenario planning, and an illusion of stakeholder engagement, focusing on the foundational inconsistencies rather than detailed technical aspects.

Key concerns include:

• Predetermination of the Western Renewables Link (WRL): The WRL is treated as a committed outcome despite being classified by AEMO as an “anticipated” project. No alternative scenario is presented where the WRL is delayed, reconfigured, or does not proceed.
• Misalignment with AEMO’s own frameworks: VicGrid’s modelling contradicts both the National Electricity Rules and the AER’s cost-benefit guidelines by treating WRL as baseline infrastructure in all scenarios.
• Insufficient consideration of community and Traditional Owner concerns: Public opposition and cultural heritage considerations have been sidelined. The plan admits its own heritage assessment is incomplete.
• Selective adoption of previously rejected ideas: The VTP now quietly embraces principles central to the previously dismissed “Plan B” approach, such as upgrading existing corridors, without acknowledging or explaining the reversal.
• Lack of comparative economic modelling: No rigorous analysis is offered of lower-impact or community-supported alternatives such as the Syncline Community Cable.

This review calls for a fundamental shift in Victoria’s transmission planning, from a top-down, centralised process to a negotiated, community-informed model. It recommends:

1. Transparent modelling of alternative futures, including without WRL.
2. Formal acknowledgement of the VTP’s convergence with Plan B.
3. Robust economic comparisons of all viable options.
4. Introduction of a negotiated settlement framework that shares decision-making power with landholders, Traditional Owners, and communities.
5. Demonstration of how public input has truly shaped actual planning outcomes.

Energy Grid Alliance submits this analysis in the interest of achieving a fair, credible, and community-driven energy transition in Victoria. Transmission infrastructure is essential, but how it is planned and delivered will determine whether the transition earns public trust or fuels further opposition.