Back

Fact Sheet: Transmission is the backbone of the shift to clean energy - and the vast majority of the community supports it

Climate Media Centre

Just like roads and plumbing, transmission lines are essential public infrastructure that helps power our everyday lives. The buildout of new transmission across Australia is a crucial piece to replacing unreliable, ageing and failing coal power. Any delay to the rollout of new transmission causes every Australian to pay more than they need to on their power bills by prolonging our reliance on coal and gas. 

 

Building more transmission pushes power prices down. Any delay pushes power prices higher. 

New transmission that connects Australians to abundant, low-cost renewable energy pushes power prices down, despite the upfront investment. The Australian Energy Market Commission’s latest modelling of residential prices in the National Electricity Market shows that power prices are projected to fall by 5% over the next five years, thanks to the building of renewables, storage and transmission.

 

By 2050, the building of new transmission is expected to  deliver net, national savings of around $24 billion by 2050 compared with not building it (AEMO 2025; Climate Council 2026).

 

We have no time to waste: a one-year delay in transmission or wind projects could increase power prices by up to 20% (AEMC 2025).

 

By 2050, analysis by Nexa Advisory found that an over-reliance on expensive gas generation, which could occur if the build out of renewable energy generation, transmission and storage were delayed, risks increasing wholesale costs by almost $116 billion (more than 20%).

 

The majority of Australians are comfortable or neutral with living near transmission. 

Surveys show that almost three quarters of Australians are ‘at least neutral' to living near transmission, while most Australians are comfortable with living near transmission (CSIRO 2024). Australians believe an improved energy system and the opportunities for local employment and businesses are the largest benefits of new transmission projects.

 

The Australian Government has developed national guidelines for engaging with communities and sharing benefits of transmission projects, including avoiding and reducing environmental impacts. State governments offer payments to landholders – often farmers – for hosting transmission lines in recognition of the critical role they play in the transition.

 

Farmers across Australia are already farming underneath transmission lines. The Climate Media Centre can connect you with case studies, including families who have been conducting their grazing operations under transmission lines since the 1980s (see page X for details). 

 

Misinformation directly impacts renewable and transmission projects, costing Australians on their power bills. 

 

Despite what the evidence shows, the public narrative often overstates the community opposition to transmission projects, as concerns are weaponised by vested interests, including through campaigns originating from or being co-opted by media, industry, consultancy, political and fossil fuel interests. The Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy heard from landowners hosting renewables infrastructure that they, and their families, have faced ongoing verbal and physical abuse, intimidation, harassment, ostracization, and death threats as a result of mis- and disinformation on hosting renewables projects, including transmission (Chapter 4.22). The Committee’s final report found that false and misleading information can directly delay energy projects (Chapter 4.26). As noted above, a transmission delay of just one year could cost Australians up to 20% extra on their power bills.

 

Accurate information is integral to shaping perception. 

CSIRO’s 2024 survey of Australian’s attitudes towards the energy transition underscored the need for accurate information on transmission. The study found that respondents had particularly low levels of confidence in their knowledge of transmission infrastructure, lower than other renewable energy infrastructure, and that respondents had a major shift in their preferences for overground vs underground transmission lines after being provided information about the pros and cons of each.    

 

Transmission makes up only a very small part of our power bills. 

Transmission currently only makes up about 6-8% of an overall power bill. Over time, as more transmission is built, it is expected to deliver net national savings of around $24 billion by 2050 compared with not building it, because it connects us to cheap, clean energy that is far cheaper and less volatile than fossil fuels (AEMO 2025). However, keeping network costs as low as possible, including the costs of new transmission, is critical to keeping power bills in check. Big batteries can help reduce the need for new transmission by boosting the capacity of our existing networks. 

 

In its latest roadmap for Australia’s energy system, AEMO expects the surge of grid-scale batteries to reduce the amount of new transmission we need by 40% (AEMO 2025; Climate Council 2026).

 

There’s no evidence of health risks. 

There have been many credible studies on transmission lines and there’s no scientific evidence of health risks from transmission lines, towers or substations. (ARPANSA)

 

Furthermore, the Australian Federal Government's Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency says the electrical and magnetic fields 50 metres from power lines are the same as in our homes. (ARPANSA) 

 

Powerlink Queensland found that in over 50 years of operating transmission lines in Queensland, it has seen no instances of electrical and magnetic field exposure causing detrimental effects to crops or livestock. (AECOM, 2018).

 

The risk of fire caused by transmission lines is extremely low.

The risk of fires being started by transmission lines is extremely low, and they are designed and managed to minimise these risks (RE-Alliance).

 

No matter how a fire starts, it is drier, hotter and windier conditions that will determine whether or not it takes hold. Climate change, caused by polluting coal, oil and gas is worsening fire conditions. Accelerating the build out of renewables, transmission and storage will help build a safer future.

 

Additional Resources: 

• https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/transmission-lines-explainer/ 

• https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/transmission-joint-statement/ 

• Power Games: Who’s driving high power bills?, Climate Council 2026

 

The Climate Media Centre has transmission experts and case studies of farmers hosting transmission lines on their properties available for interview. 

Stephanie Bashir, Founder and CEO of Nexa Advisory, said: 

“An energy future that has secure, reliable and affordable power for consumers of all types 

requires us to get on with the transition.

 

To get it done we must build the grid scale generation and storage, and connect it. Our research shows that delays to getting on with the transition to renewables, and therefore relying on expensive gas, have cost Australian families and businesses billions, and will continue to do so – in fact as much as $115.7 billion by 2050, compared to what we call an ‘orderly transition’. 

 

Building the transmission is really the missing link. Delays and rising costs of materials mean energy consumers are paying more for the infrastructure (about a third more since 2022) and more for their power in the interim. And, the uncomfortable reality is, that without key transmission lines we will have black outs when the coal-fired power stations fail.” 

 

Also available for interview are: 

 

• Assoc. Professor Roger Dargaville, researcher in renewable energy in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University, Melbourne. Roger is an expert in energy systems and climate change.

• Simon Tickner and Susan Findlay-Tickner. The Tickner family live in Horsham, Victoria and operate a 3500ha grain farm based to the north of Horsham where they have been farming around transmission towers for over fifty years, and wind turbines for over a decade.

• Billy and Michael Greenham. The Greenham family’s 400 hectare beef farm has hosted 275kV transmission lines, connecting Victoria and South Australia since the 1980s. 

 

If you are interested in speaking to an expert or case study, please contact:

Gabrielle Platt on 0493 42 307 or [email protected].

Contact details:

Gabrielle Platt on 0493 42 307 or [email protected].