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VicGrid is committed to putting in place a new way of planning energy infrastructure. At the core of this new approach is a commitment to place-based engagement with landholders and local communities and partnerships with First Peoples.
We tailor our engagement approach to different regions and groups, including landholders, Traditional Owners and First Peoples, communities, local governments, advocacy and interest groups, energy industry stakeholders, and other industries such as farming.
This approach ensures communities and stakeholders have a genuine voice in transmission planning and investment, helping to minimise impacts on landholders, the environment, cultural heritage, and regional industries.
This is a big change to how energy infrastructure has been planned in the past.
Land use, social, cultural, and environmental factors will all be taken into account from the very start of the process, where in the past the only considerations were technical and economic.
We are also putting in place new arrangements to share the benefits of the energy transition more fairly. Find out more on our Community benefits page.
Community engagement opportunities
There will be ongoing engagement with community and key stakeholders as we implement new reforms to change how energy infrastructure is planned in Victoria.
The changes will help reduce impacts, help keep costs down and give industry the certainty it needs to invest in the new renewable energy Victoria needs for the future.
These new reforms include the:
- Victorian Transmission Plan, which will be updated at least every 4 years
- Renewable Energy Zone declaration process
- Victorian Access Regime - new arrangements for how developers engage with community and deliver benefits.
Partnering with Traditional Owners
VicGrid is developing and implementing a new statewide approach for how renewable energy and transmission infrastructure is planned. At the heart of this new statewide approach is ensuring early engagement with and involvement of Traditional Owners and First Peoples.
VicGrid is committed to working in partnership with Traditional Owners and First Peoples as rights holders to Land and Sea Country. We will seek to walk together with Traditional Owners and Victoria's First Peoples through our energy transition journey in a way that that is grounded in mutual respect, upholds their distinct rights, and enables self-determination and shared benefits.
Self determination
In line with the self-determination principles set out in Pupangarli Marnmarnepu: Owning Our Future — the Aboriginal Self-Determination Reform Strategy — VicGrid and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action will seek to partner with Traditional Owners and First Peoples. Together, they will identify and address key expectations and community concerns that align with their rights and cultural responsibilities.
Meet Craig Watson, Adviser to the CEO of VicGrid
Engaging with the agriculture sector
VicGrid recognises the crucial contribution farmers make to Victoria's economy, regional and rural communities, food security, and way of life.
We are committed to working collaboratively with landholders and the agriculture sector to understand how renewable energy infrastructure can co-exist with agriculture.
Our aim is to plan development in a way that minimises impacts on farmers' ability to operate productive farms and creates economic opportunities for landholders and rural communities.
VicGrid commissioned agricultural consultancy RMCG to determine a consistent, evidence-based method to identify relative compatibility of different agriculture land uses with co-located renewable energy infrastructure - Agriculture - Renewable Energy Compatibility Study prepared by RMCG. You can view the full report on our Victorian Transmission Plan page.
Page last updated: 06/11/25
