Day 3 - diving deeper into the future of Tasmania’s energy network

The third online session of the People’s Panel was held on Saturday 2 May, marking another important milestone in the Panel’s journey.

The first part of this session focused on responding to the key information gaps identified by panel members following the Day 1 discussions.

To help guide the session, TasNetworks brought the eight information gaps identified by the Panel together into four key themes:

  • Planning for the future – including strategic decision-making, the role of government, and how we are preparing for changing energy demand.
  • Investment – how investment decisions are made and the potential impacts of not investing in the network.
  • Pricing – what makes up network charges, why costs vary between customers, and questions around fairness between rural and urban communities.
  • Balancing investment options and fairness – exploring the challenges other network service providers are facing, the shared pressures of the renewable energy transition, and how equity is considered in decision-making.

The session also featured a presentation from external guest speaker Sabiene Heindl, CEO of the Energy Charter, who provided a national perspective on the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition, particularly in relation to fairness, equity and customer outcomes.

To make some of the more technical topics easier to understand, the team also developed a series of animated videos covering:

  • how we make investment decisions
  • how network pricing works
  • consumer energy resources and their impact on the network.

Since the Panel first came together, members have built a strong understanding of the energy industry, the challenges facing the network, and the complexities involved in balancing cost, reliability and fairness.

The depth and quality of the questions being asked by the Panel now reflects just how much knowledge members have developed throughout the process. The discussions are becoming increasingly informed, thoughtful and detailed, helping to drive deeper conversations across a range of complex topics.

The People’s Panel is now entering the next stage of its journey, where members will begin bringing together everything they have learned to develop recommendations that will help shape the business’s future investment decision-making.

Our next session will be held on Saturday 23 May in Launceston.