We appreciate the opportunity to provide comments on the Draft Inputs, Assumptions and Scenarios Report (IASR) 2023.
We commend the AEMO team on the effort and time taken to produce an IASR that is clearly a step forward from previous versions. A key piece of work for AEMO’s Integrated System Plan (ISP), the IASR outlines how AEMO proposes to model Australia’s energy future to plan for a system that meets the diversity of consumer needs.
Nonetheless, given that the purpose of the ISP is to establish a “whole-of-system plan for the efficient development of the [NEM] power system that achieves power system needs for a planning horizon of at least 20 years for the long-term interests of the consumers of electricity”, we encourage AEMO to reconsider how the IASR can genuinely support a whole-of-system plan—that incorporates supply and demand opportunities—for an efficient energy (electricity and gas) system that delivers not only for electricity consumers but all energy consumers.
To further expand the IASR capabilities to inform and influence whole-of-system planning, policies and decision making towards a least-cost and most-efficient energy transition that puts consumers at the heart of solutions, we need more integration, collaboration and communication.
We believe that substantial integration of systems planning is needed—not only across the electricity value chain, but across gas infrastructure, urban planning, built environment, and transportation needs, to name a few. But for this integration to happen successfully, we need more genuine collaboration—within and across sectors, to ensure planning can be responsive and adaptable to changing conditions. Collaboration that enables diverse voices to feel heard and acknowledged, that contributes to building trust with each other, that results in the co-design of solutions that address major community concerns. And for collaboration to occur, we must focus on essential communication principles: clarity, conciseness and transparency. In other words, we must make the effort to communicate with each other in ways that allow clear comprehension, meaningful action, and feedback.
Our response to the Draft IASR 2023 is structured along these 3 key concepts that hold such important and personal meanings for all of us.
Read our full submission here