Submission to the Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan
The Gippsland Climate Change Network (GCCN) accepted the invitation by VicGrid to respond to the Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP)
GCCN welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan (VTP). As a regionally embedded, community-focused organisation dedicated to climate education, resilience, and a just energy transition, we work closely with local communities, industry, councils, landholders, educators, and young people across Gippsland—a region at the forefront of Australia’s renewable energy future.
While the Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan focuses on technical infrastructure it is crucial to acknowledge that no plan of this scale can succeed without community support. Too often, transmission discussions become solely about poles and wires, yet without the active involvement and consent of the communities impacted, progress will be delayed, challenged, or rejected. Community voice must be integral—not peripheral—to the planning, design, and implementation of Victoria’s energy transition.
Our submission draws on direct engagement and extensive experience with stakeholders throughout Gippsland and identifies five key areas we believe are critical to the success and community acceptance of the VTP.
1. Recommendations for further Design Principles
2. Clarity and Equity in Community Benefit Sharing
3. Planning for Long-Term Needs – Avoiding the ‘Spaghetti Effect’
4. Strengthening Participation and Regional Voice
5. Recommendations for Manufacturing Hubs
Additional Considerations for Gippsland:
Cumulative impacts: Gippsland is experiencing rapid overlapping development across offshore wind, solar, hydrogen, transmission, and critical minerals. A regional cumulative impact framework is essential to understand and manage land use pressure, workforce demand, and environmental consequences.
Just Transition for coal communities: Loy Yang and Yallourn are named as major hubs, yet there is limited discussion of how transmission planning can support transition outcomes for local workers and communities tied to coal. GCCN urges VicGrid to lead or partner in delivering transition support sessions and practical pathways to employment in the new energy economy.
Transmission resilience in eastern Gippsland: Communities east of Sale regularly experience brownouts and grid instability due to their isolation and weaker network capacity. Transmission investment in this region would not only improve reliability but open new opportunities for renewable energy generation in East Gippsland, an area with significant untapped potential.
Climate resilience and emergency access: Infrastructure design should incorporate fire safety, flood planning, and access for emergency services particularly in bushfire-prone areas or near low-lying coastal zones.
Conclusion:
Victoria has the opportunity to demonstrate world-leading energy transition planning—grounded in fairness, foresight, and local collaboration. Gippsland communities are already navigating significant economic and environmental change.
Transmission planning that fosters shared decision-making, provides meaningful and transparent benefits, strengthens regional resilience, and supports long-term prosperity will be essential to securing the social license and lasting success of the energy transition.
Link to full GCCN Submission to the Draft 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan
