19 July 2026
The NSW government is considering closing a loophole that allows big power users, including future hyperscale data centres and the Tomago aluminium smelter, to bypass the cost of the state’s energy transition build and lump the burden onto households.
Under a complex NSW scheme known as the Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, the cost of building large power lines and underwriting wind and solar projects in the state is recouped over time via the energy bills of customers connected to local grid networks.
The multibillion-dollar scheme is still in its infancy, and the huge capital expenditure needed to build the state’s five renewable energy zones has only just begun to flow through to households and businesses power bills.
But an exemption built into the original design of the scheme allows large energy customers to avoid Roadmap costs if they connect directly to the transmission network, the large power cables that link up the state’s vast electricity grid.
The most high-profile exempted business is the energy-hungry Tomago smelter near Newcastle, which is in protracted negotiations with state and federal governments over a deal to secure a long-term affordable power supply and prevent a sudden closure.
Consumer advocates argue that the exemption needs to be removed to account for the proposed construction of hyperscale data centres, whose payment of Roadmap costs would significantly reduce bills for households and businesses.
The issue adds to the challenge for state and federal governments trying to attract data centre investment while managing political pressure around the energy and water needs of the facilities.
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NSW Greens MP Abigail Boyd said the “outrageous” exemption slugged households twice, “by increased demand driving up power bills, and a second time subsidising the infrastructure that delivers it to these large industrial customers”.
“There is a simple and obvious solution to this. Remove the exemption and make large industrial customers of all stripes pay their fair share.”