Climateworks Centre welcomes the opportunity to provide input on the Australian Energy Market Commission’s (AEMC) draft determination on enhancing distribution network planning and reporting to respond to changes in Consumer Energy Resources (CER) and open up Distributed Energy Resources (DER), and hence, efficient network investment.

The rapid decarbonisation of Australia’s electricity system will play an important role in supporting its commitments under the Paris Agreement.

Increasing renewable electricity generation and coordinated electrification across transport, buildings and industry can support Australia to meet its emissions reduction targets.

In this submission, Climateworks recommends that the AEMC pursue rule changes that support the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) to strengthen electricity distribution network planning and reporting frameworks in ways that improve whole-of-system coordination and planning confidence.

Distribution network planning reform is an important enabling mechanism for Australia’s energy transition.

As electrification accelerates across households, transport and industry, Distribution Network Development Plans (DNDPs) can evolve into more active planning frameworks that align with the 2024 National Energy Objective (NEO) rule on emissions reduction enabled by regulation.

This evolution can support least-cost electrification pathways, strengthen integration of CER, open up DER and improve coordination between local and national planning processes.

Submission summary

Climateworks recommends that the AEMC:

  • support a 20-year planning horizon informed by Integrated System Plan (ISP) scenarios and targeted sensitivities that explore various levels of electrification and CER/DER
  • strengthen the role of DNDPs as active planning tools that support demand-side participation and non-network solutions
  • maintain annual updates while improving standardised reporting and visibility of evolving demand patterns
  • integrate granular spatial planning data and Low Voltage (LV) hosting capacity information into the planning framework
  • embed planning alignment principles between DNDPs, the updated NEO, energy planning, and Industrial Area Energy Plans.

More detail can be found in our submission [PDF 0.2mb].