Renewable Energy

Processes for considering projects – consultation and assessment

• How is information collected through engagement on projects and proposals used and considered?
  
  • Department for Housing and Urban Development –  Public notification and referrals: How applications are assessed
  • Australian Energy Regulator – Guidelines for system planning: Regulatory Investment Test
• How can benefits be shared more equitably with communities impacted by projects
  
  • Project proponents resolve their community benefit sharing models as part of their project delivery plans (often included in their environmental impact assessments submitted for their planning and development approvals).
  • Various resources have been produced to provide guidance about how community benefit sharing models might work, which may be useful to communities when neogitating with project proponents:
    
    • Clean Energy Council – A Guide to Benefit Sharing Options for Renewable Energy Projects
    • Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – Guides to community engagement and benefit sharing (includes examples of frameworks from other jurisdictions in Australia)
• How are native vegetation impacts considered
  
  • Native vegetation impacts are considered as part of the assessment process of the development application made for a project. This typically triggers a review process by the Native Vegetation Council
    
    • State Planning Commission – Fact Sheet – Native Vegetation
• Where do people go to make submissions and have their say?
  
  • All development applications lodged in South Australia are published on the Development Application register maintained by the State Planning Commission. Notified developments (those requiring public consultation – incuding generation and transmission projects) are also published under a separate section, with members of the public able to lodge submissions under each development:
    
    • State planning system – ​development application register
  • Network projects are subjected to an independent economic regulatory process administered by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) to ensure the benefits of a proposed project outweigh the costs before the project expenditures are approved (and network operators allowed to collect revenue from these expenditures). This process (the Regulatory Investment Test or RIT) involves public consultation, with members of the public able to make submissions to help inform decision making by the AER.
    
    • Australian Energy Regulator – regulation and project consultation
• What role does Council play in these processes?
  
  • Councils’ role(s) in generation and transmission projects depend on the nature of the individual projects, but typically involve infrastructure and traffic management agreements at a minimum. Councils (as any other body) can make submissions to regulatory and planning consultation processes, and may play a role in supporting the administration of community benefit funds or similar programs.
• Will local communities receive funding to support local advocacy?
  
  • RDA has not identified any dedicated funding to support local advocacy activities in relation to specific projects.
    • The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner is an independent role appointed by the Australian Government to receive complaints from the public about issues or concerns with energy projects, provide advice on best practice in the energy space, and work with industry, government and communities to assist in making the energy transition smoother and fairer.
  • Separately, Rural Business Support provides the Landowner ​Information Service – a free support service (funded by South Australian Government) to provide independent advice to landowners and communities impacted by proposed exploration, mining and energy projects about the rights and responsibilities with respect to land access.