Hunter councils want a REZ community fund. EnergyCo’s proposed access scheme would have new projects connecting at 132 kV and above contribute to one benefit-sharing program, and a draft it indicated for Q3 had not appeared by 8 October

If you live near the wind, solar and battery projects lining up to connect in the Hunter, the short answer is that a shared community fund for this zone does not exist yet, and the mechanism that would pay for one is still a proposal. EnergyCo, the state agency planning the renewable energy zones, published a consultation paper in July saying EnergyCo is proposing to recommend that the Minister declare an access scheme for the Hunter-Central Coast REZ. Under it, its fact sheet says, Connecting projects will also be required to pay access fees which include funds for community and employment purposes.

The councils, through the Hunter Joint Organisation, want a fund established and want it wider than the zone. Their 1 October release says mayors and general managers from the ten councils will take a united regional voice to NSW Parliament House in October, and lists among the key priorities Establishing a Community Benefit Fund for the Hunter Renewable Energy Zone. The councils call it the Hunter REZ; EnergyCo’s name for the same zone is the Hunter-Central Coast REZ.

What the councils are asking for

That a community benefit funding model be established for Hunter REZ and neighbouring impacted LGAs to address community impacts arising from major energy infrastructure development (e.g. transport, water, housing and social impacts).

The sheet, linked from the councils’ 2027 state election priorities, sets out why. The state’s Community and Employment Benefit Program, it says, is funded by access fees payable by generators and other projects connecting to REZ network infrastructure. Its reading is that in some REZ areas, the anticipated access fees are likely to be much lower, giving the Hunter transmission line as its example, and that communities hosting major projects outside a zone, Upper Hunter Council in its example, are not eligible. It also says that since the Resources for Regions Fund was discontinued there is now no mechanism to deal with mining impacts on neighbouring council areas. Those are the councils’ claims; we have not tested the eligibility or Upper Hunter points against the zone’s boundary map.

EnergyCo’s program page, read on 8 October, lists programs for three zones, Central-West Orana, New England and the South West, and says The program was delivered first to communities within the Central-West Orana REZ. The Hunter-Central Coast REZ has no entry.

Who would pay, and who would not

The paper describes the Hunter zone as the first distribution network-focused REZ, built mostly by upgrading Ausgrid’s existing lines rather than stringing new transmission. EnergyCo is considering applying the scheme across all high voltage network in the zone, existing and new, which the paper says is different from the other zones, where schemes have applied only to new network. The effect, in its words, is that all new projects connecting at 132 kV and above will contribute to the same coordinated community benefit sharing program.

Under EnergyCo’s proposal, which projects would pay access fees

Positions under consideration in the July 2026 paper and fact sheet. Nothing here is decided; the fact sheet says no decisions have been made.

• Would pay, if a scheme is declared
  • Wind and solar of 30 MW or more, and standalone batteries of 5 MW or more
  • Connecting at 132 kV and above: Ausgrid, Transgrid and Essential Energy network in the zone
  • At least half the project site inside the zone
  • Without an offer to connect by the day the scheme is declared
• Would not pay
  • Projects already connected, or holding an offer to connect, when the scheme is declared
  • Projects holding a signed government underwriting contract (LTESA or CISA) on the day the declaration is published
  • Smaller projects, under the 30 MW and 5 MW thresholds
  • Anything on the 66 kV network and below
  • Connections to the Hunter Transmission Project, or to the New England REZ line where it runs through the zone (that section would sit under New England’s scheme)
  • Large electricity users, such as smelters or data centres: the scheme is not proposed to control load connections

The fee itself is not EnergyCo’s to set. The paper says AusEnergy Services Ltd, as Consumer Trustee, sets access fees, that Access fees are required to include components for community purposes and for employment purposes, and that they are typically expressed on a per MW basis. It also says the paper does not cover policy options on community and employment benefits programs or on access fees, which may be subject to separate consultation processes. So the July paper says who would pay, but not how much, or how the money would be spent in the Hunter. EnergyCo is considering a scheme term of 25 years.

Two other zones show the model running. EnergyCo’s access schemes page says 7.15 gigawatts of projects have received access rights in Central-West Orana and 3.56 gigawatts of projects have received access rights in the South West.

How big the pool of paying projects could be

The paper gives EnergyCo’s own estimate of what may still come. It says a further 1 GW of generation (wind and solar) and 1.8 GW of storage (batteries) may seek connection to the Ausgrid network within the REZ geographical area, and a further 12 GW of storage (batteries and pumped hydro) may seek connection to the Transgrid network, and adds: It’s possible that not all these projects will proceed.

Capacity that may seek to connect in the zone, by EnergyCo’s analysis

Bars to scale; the full width is 12 gigawatts. These are projects that may seek connection, not projects that will connect or pay. Ausgrid network dark, Transgrid network light.

Wind and solar, Ausgrid network1 GW

Batteries, Ausgrid network1.8 GW

Batteries and pumped hydro, Transgrid network12 GW

Most of that potential capacity is storage on Transgrid’s high voltage lines, which the proposal would include. Which of it ends up paying depends on two things nobody has published yet: the fee rate, and how much of the pipeline gets an offer to connect before a scheme is declared, since those projects would be exempt.

In the meantime, community money in the zone runs project by project. When construction began on the first major solar and battery project to connect to the zone, EnergyCo’s 21 August release said that Through an agreement with Muswellbrook Shire Council, OX2 will contribute $115,000 each year to a Community Benefit Sharing Program.

Where the timetable stands

The fact sheet says If supported by the Minister, a draft access scheme will be released for further consultation in Q3 2026 in the form of a Policy Positions Paper, and that A final decision on whether an access scheme will go ahead, and what it will look like, is expected later in 2026. The paper marks its own timeline Indicative timeline should an access scheme be progressed. Note this is subject to change.

The Hunter-Central Coast REZ access scheme, as the documents date it

1. Jul 2026EnergyCo publishes the Generation and Storage Consultation Paper; webinar on 22 July.
2. 4 Aug 2026Submissions due, per the fact sheet and the feedback page.
3. 25 Aug 2026Close of feedback as the access scheme page now gives it (open from 7 July to this date).
4. Q3 2026Policy positions paper and draft access scheme declaration, on the indicative timeline. As at 8 October, not published.
5. Oct 2026Hunter councils at Parliament House with their election priorities, including the REZ fund.
6. Q4 2026Final access scheme declaration, if the minister decides to adopt one.
7. Q1 2027Access application process begins.

As at 8 October, the access scheme page (updated 28 July) carries the July paper and says Later in the year, we’ll seek feedback on the proposed design of an access scheme for the Hunter-Central Coast REZ. EnergyCo’s news list, read the same day, has nothing on the Hunter scheme since the paper; its newest items are dated 6 October. The feedback page says all online responses and submissions will be made publicly available, except those requested to be kept confidential; as at 8 October the access scheme page links none.

New England shows how long the same steps took there. Its access scheme page refers to the August 2025 New England REZ Generation and Storage Consultation Paper and says In July 2026, EnergyCo published the Draft New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) Access Scheme Declaration. That is 11 months from paper to draft (our arithmetic). The Hunter timeline allowed about three.

Our read

This section is opinion, based on the facts and documents above.

The councils and EnergyCo are closer than the election ask suggests, but not on the same map. The access scheme would raise exactly the kind of money the councils want, from the projects they are worried about. What it would not do is reach the neighbouring and corridor council areas the councils name, or the mining impacts they say Resources for Regions used to cover. That gap is what the councils’ ask is for, and it is a question for the government, not one the scheme can answer.

Timing matters to the size of the pot. Projects holding an offer to connect when a scheme is declared would pay nothing into it. Every month the declaration waits, more of the pipeline can reach that point. A Q3 date that slips quietly is not neutral for the communities the fees are meant to serve, and the most useful next thing EnergyCo can do is publish the draft, the submissions it said it would publish, and a fresh date.

What to watch next

The draft declaration and positions paper, which should say whether the minister supports the approach; any separate consultation on the Hunter’s fees or benefit program; and whatever the councils bring back from Parliament House. We will read the draft declaration when EnergyCo publishes it and report what it says about who pays and where the money goes.