Rural Australian communities are hosting the clean energy boom. Are they getting a fair say?

Detailed summary

Backlash doesn’t mean communities are rejecting the clean energy transition. Many are asking for fairer benefits, and a bigger say in what the future looks like.

Australia’s transition to clean energy is happening at pace, with regional areas front and centre. Rural communities are being asked to host the wind farms, solar panels and transmission lines to power our biggest cities – sometimes hundreds of kilometres away.

Accommodating these large developments can be burdensome for small communities. Projects can impact farmland and load local roads. They can also pile more pressure on housing and essential services.

To sweeten the deal, affected communities are being promised a once-in-a-generation wave of investment, touted as an economic lifeline for many regional towns struggling to survive.

Not everyone is buying the promise. With a state election looming, Victoria offers some stark examples of how these tensions are playing out.

Some councils have been sidelined by the state government in key decisions. Planning laws have been changed to fast-track projects. In many areas, community backlash has been fierce.

These tensions point to questions that go beyond any individual project. Are regional communities being given a meaningful say in their economic future? And will they actually be left better off?

For regional Australia, the scale of change is enormous. So, too, is the economic opportunity it presents.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has estimated that achieving net zero emissions will require $106 billion in new investment (in today’s dollars) by 2050. This includes investment in 6,000 kilometres of new transmission lines across the country.

This money is already flowing. According to the Clean Energy Council, 141 clean energy projects worth about $32.5 billion were financed or already under construction in the first half of this year.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Conversation AU. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.