General News
22 August, 2025
Mayor's outrage at REZ announcement
The weekend release of the updated 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan across the Wimmera Mallee caught councils and communities off guard, with some expressing outrage.
Yarriambiack Shire Council mayor Kylie Zanker said the community felt completely blindsided by the changes in the plan.
"I feel broken and extremely disheartened, and feel for my fellow Councillors, who have also consoled many residents, believing that our region was oversubscribed with prospectors, which was reflected in the draft VTP,” she said.
Cr Zanker said she and her fellow councillors were outraged at the REZ expansion, which now saw the footprint expanded with no clear picture regarding the gigawatt capacity.
"As a council, we have taken the high ground, been respectful, we have reached out and consulted and tried to get the government to understand the impact that both mining and renewable energy are having on our Shire, but our respectful engagement has got us nowhere,” she said.
"How could Vic Grid get it so wrong?"
"This government is about taking from our communities and giving nothing in return," she said.
"The government gave us a false sense of security and then threw us a hand grenade. We are the people on the ground, having to pick up the pieces of a broken community.
"Our rural communities are the backbone of this state, and this is how we are repaid."
However, VicGrid's statement claimed the announcement would deliver certainty and fairness for communities and industry as coal-fired power closes down.
VicGrid released the long-term strategic plan for the development of Victoria's renewable energy zones on Sunday, August 17, with Chief Executive Alistair Parker saying VicGrid had carefully considered all the feedback it received from the community, regional stakeholders, Traditional Owners, and the agriculture and energy industries in preparing the plan.
"The Victorian Transmission Plan will ensure an orderly energy transition and has been designed through consultation to minimise impacts on landholders, regional communities, and crucial regional industries like agriculture," he said.
"VicGrid has worked hard to balance a range of factors as we make difficult decisions about where energy infrastructure is needed to deliver reliable and affordable power to Victorian homes, businesses, and industry."
Mr Parker said feedback from communities and regional stakeholders about sensitive areas, including new information about brolga habitats and irrigated agricultural land, had resulted in several areas being removed from the renewable energy zones.
"Industry stakeholders consistently told us the size of zones and the amount of energy generated from each zone needed to be at a level that enabled the development of technically and commercially viable renewable projects," he said.
Meanwhile, Buloke Shire Council expressed deep disappointment with the State Government's handling of the major expansion to the zones, which now pushes significantly into Buloke communities.
The major extension of the Grampians-Wimmera REZ now extends into Buloke's west near Curyo and Wilkur, and the North West REZ has shifted closer to the north-east of Charlton.
"When a change of this scale is introduced with little-to-no warning, it doesn't just raise concerns, it has significant impacts on our community," said Buloke Shire Council mayor Alan Getley.
"Council objects to VNI West in its current form. We remain firmly aligned with our community and have called on the state government to engage genuinely and constructively with our community and council.
"This announcement from VicGrid further diminishes trust in the state from our community.
"We were given little time to understand the full impact. We know that people will be upset, and so are we."
The mayor went on to say that it was one thing to shift the goalposts, but this felt like moving the entire field, handing the rulebook to one team, renewable energy companies, and leaving the other team, the community, in the dark.
He acknowledged that some local landholders had chosen to participate in renewable energy projects and encouraged everyone to share their views respectfully.
VicGrid defends plan
A VicGrid spokesperson claimed that the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan had been developed through extensive consultation, following feedback on the draft plan released in May.
They said VicGrid had adjusted the size and shape of renewable energy zones and refined some of its transmission projects to provide the infrastructure needed to build over the next 15 years and to deliver reliable and affordable energy to Victorian homes and businesses.
"Some areas have been removed from or added to zones, and new separate sections have been added in the South West REZ and Central North REZ,” the spokesperson said.
"The Wimmera Mallee REZ has been expanded to allow for an increased number of projects currently in development and will now join the Grampians Wimmera REZ as one Western REZ despite not being connected.
"The plan proposes the creation of six renewable energy zones (REZs) that signal to the community, landholders and industry, where wind and solar projects, and batteries for storage, should be developed."
VicGrid claimed in the announcement that the development of new renewable energy and transmission capacity would create 67,000 jobs by 2040, support new industries, and create a foundation for our state's economic prosperity.
Not implementing the plan would prevent new cheap renewables from being connected, which would push up energy prices, put Victoria's energy security at risk, and cost the economy $9.6 billion across the next 30 years.
The area covered by proposed renewable energy zones in the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan takes up about 7.9 per cent of Victorian land.
Less than one per cent of land will be needed to host physical infrastructure like wind turbines, solar panels, and access roads.
Landholders, communities, and Traditional Owners within zones will soon have another opportunity to provide feedback and seek more information through a six-week consultation process to declare renewable energy zones formally.