A not-for-profit working for more than a decade with regional communities at the centre of Australia's shift to renewable energy has welcomed the release of the Australian Energy Market Operator's (AEMO) draft Integrated System Plan (ISP) 2026.
National Director of the Renewable Energy Alliance (RE-Alliance), Andrew Bray, said AEMO's ISP is the most comprehensive pathway to energy security by 2050.
"It may sound like a lot of acronyms, but AEMO's ISP is as close as we've got to a national roadmap for how we're going to keep the lights on as Australia's ageing coal fired power stations retire," Mr Bray said.
The draft ISP shows we are in the middle of Australia's energy shift. In the last financial year 40% of Australia's electricity was provided by renewable sources. The plan outlines that renewable energy such as wind and solar power, connected by power lines, and backed with battery storage is the cheapest way to ensure Australians have a reliable electricity supply to 2050.
The draft ISP outlines five key points that will have an impact on rural and regional communities:
We continue to need large scale wind, solar and hydro projects as well as household solar and batteries and new transmission lines to connect it all together.
"With the majority of Australia's coal-fired power stations closing by the middle of 2030 we expect to see an increasing focus on getting new renewable energy projects online faster," Andrew Bray said. "For example, the ISP shows we need wind capacity to double by 2030 and more than triple by 2040 - we know this is possible because many of these projects are already in planning, but we have to make sure that regional communities have a say in how renewable energy development happens."
New transmission infrastructure is critical to keep Australia's lights on.
"New transmission infrastructure has become controversial, but this plan reiterates its crucial role. They transport new electricity from where it is generated, to the rest of the grid, in the most efficient way so we don't pay more than what's needed in our bill," Andrew Bray said.
"We need to focus on what can be done to better support these communities and ensure governments start making serious investments in robust, community-led solutions like Local Energy Hubs. While farmers being asked to host new transmission lines are paid, we'd like to see more states adopt neighbour payment schemes and community benefits to acknowledge the impact on the broader community."
There is a growing role that everyday Australians will play through the increase of household solar, batteries, virtual power plants and utilising electric vehicle battery storage in the home.
"It's exciting to see the growing role that homes and businesses are playing in how we generate and share electricity without burning fossil fuels. We have seen world-leading levels of household solar and batteries in Australia and while this plan shows that individuals and families will play a larger role than originally anticipated, we still need to build large-scale generation and new transmission infrastructure in the regions to keep the lights on.
"South Australia, for example, has shown that it will reach 100% renewable energy by 2027 through a mix of household solar (number one in the world) and wind and solar farms," Mr Bray said.
AEMO is listening and has made it clear that regional communities deserve better engagement and that this is the joint responsibility of industry and governments.
"Through participation in AEMO's Consumer and Community Reference Group and previously on the Advisory Council on Social Licence, RE-Alliance has seen a significant shift from AEMO in recognising that people need to be at the centre of this infrastructure plan," Andrew Bray said.
The ISP has a few scenarios, one is an 'accelerated transition' scenario aligned with actions required to limit global heating below 1.5C, but that's not reflected in the 'step change' scenario the draft ISP is currently built on.
"Farmers and rural and regional communities are on the frontline of increasing climate impacts, which needs to be recognised by AEMO in the final plan," Andrew Bray said.
AEMO's draft ISP is open for consultation until 13 February 2026 and will be finalised by June 2026.
