Driving the boom

Our Chief Customer and Strategy Officer, Leanne Pickering took the stage at last week’s Boomtown Summit to discuss the need to drive innovation, skills and training to support Western Sydney’s growth as we navigate the energy transition.

Talking on a panel with Sydney Water, John Holland, TAFE NSW and the University of Technology Sydney, Leanne shared how fundamental changes in how we generate, store and use electricity are requiring new technology, investment, infrastructure, policy and regulatory reform to be delivered at an accelerated pace.

She called on industry, government and regulators to collaborate more closely so we have the right policy settings to deliver the right infrastructure at the least cost to the benefit of everyone. “Social licence and co-designing our investment approach with customers is not easy, it takes a lot of continuous effort … but it’s worth it in the end, because it’s in their voice, and means its capable of acceptance.”

With Western Sydney building new communities set to be the size of Canberra, Leanne added it’s critical to plan proactively now to get the right balance between regulatory engagement, social licence and the tech required. “Our customers are already actively involved in the energy transition, so it’s imperative we harness energy within the distribution network to use it closer to the source.”

A big thank you to the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue and all our industry partners for encouraging this city shaping discussion.