Melbourne, May 8, 2026, 09:02 (AEST)
AusNet has applied to the Victorian government for powers to compulsorily acquire land easements for the Western Renewables Link, sharpening a fight with farmers over one of the state’s most contested renewable-energy grid projects. An easement is a legal right to use part of a property, usually without buying the whole farm.
The move matters now because Victoria changed the law in March to let transmission companies seek compulsory easements while an Environment Effects Statement, or EES, is still under way. The EES is the state’s formal review of a project’s environmental, social and economic impacts.
The Western Renewables Link is planned as a 190-kilometre overhead transmission line from Bulgana in western Victoria to Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west. VicGrid says the line would carry more than 3 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 1 million homes, and help move renewable power into the state grid as coal plants close.
AusNet says it does not currently have compulsory acquisition powers for the project and that the government will decide whether to grant them. The company said voluntary Option for Easement agreements remain its focus and that compulsory easements would apply only to properties without such an agreement when a formal acquisition notice is gazetted.
Farm groups say that changes the balance of talks. Victorian Farmers Federation Acting President Peter Star called the application “a deeply concerning step” and said the government should reject it, arguing landholders could not view negotiations as voluntary if one side was seeking the legal power to take the easement anyway. Victorian Farmers Federation
Hepburn Shire Council, one of the local governments along the proposed corridor, also pushed back. Mayor Tony Clark said granting AusNet the powers before the EES outcome would disrespect landholders and “questions the EES process,” adding that AusNet had contacted landowners about signing voluntary agreements by the end of September. Hepburn Shire Council
The fight is now spilling into state politics. The Victorian Coalition said on Thursday it would pause and review the Western Renewables Link and VNI West transmission projects if elected in November, while Labor has argued new transmission is needed to keep power reliable and cheaper as ageing coal-fired generation retires.
Legal advisers have warned the March law change may shift negotiating leverage. Maddocks lawyers Chris Cantor and Lorcan Cullen wrote that easement acquisition can now run in parallel with the EES process and that earlier compulsory acquisition is likely to alter talks between project proponents and landholders.
The dispute is not isolated. In New South Wales, a petition against EnergyCo’s proposed Walcha-to-Bayswater transmission corridor has been tabled with 22,272 signatures, putting it in the 20,000-plus category and setting it down for parliamentary debate on June 25. ([Parliament of NSW][8])
EnergyCo says it has narrowed the New England Renewable Energy Zone corridor from a 3-kilometre study area to a 1-kilometre corridor, cutting the number of landholders in the affected area from about 200 to about 150. Chief Executive Hannah McCaughey said the project was “essential to keeping the lights on” as coal stations retire, but added that delivery mattered too. EnergyCo
The Walcha campaign was also picked up by Sydney radio station 2GB, which described the petition milestone as a win for farmers fighting transmission towers. EnergyCo’s own project material says no compulsory acquisition has been undertaken for the New England REZ and that negotiated agreement is its first priority.
The risk for governments is that faster land acquisition could speed up grid builds but deepen rural opposition, adding court fights, election pressure or further delays. For developers, the opposite risk is just as clear: without easements, big transmission projects may miss timelines needed to connect new renewable generation to the grid.
[8]: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/papers/Pages/tabled-paper-details.aspx?pk=193257 “
Mr Brendan Moylan—Rejection of New Transmission Line Corridor from Walcha LGA to Bayswater“
