Energy + the REZ
The energy transition is landing on this district at a scale nowhere else in the country matches. The Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone is the state's first declared REZ, and on EnergyCo's own figures it is building new network capacity to connect gigawatts of wind and solar, with construction under way and energisation planned for 2028. It reshapes land, grid and towns across a very large footprint.
We cover it from the primary record: EnergyCo's project and transmission pages, its latest-updates feed, the community-benefit rounds and attitude surveys, and the planning documents. Figures are checked on the source page and carry a methodology note; land-use tensions are reported strictly from the record, never as asserted speculation.
Energy + the REZ
EnergyCo has strung the first lines, with 64 towers standing. Its release claims $72 million awarded. In August we counted the tables and one $10 million stream published no amounts at all. Those amounts are now up: 59.6 per cent of the stream.
1 October 2026
Energy + the REZ
A renewable energy zone is a transmission project first: the generators are private and come later. About 20,000 square kilometres around Dubbo and Dunedoo, 4.5 gigawatts of network capacity, and community money that comes from access fees rather than from Sydney.
24 August 2026
Energy + the REZ
A new $1.4 million farm-technology program is the latest slice of a $128.4 million pot. We added up every published grant from the first $76.5 million: 74 recipients, $66,062,047 disclosed, and one $10 million stream that names its recipients without naming their amounts.
16 August 2026
Energy + the REZ
Median weekly rent tracked quarterly, complaints about non-resident workforce behaviour monthly, crime incidents quarterly. The REZ social impact plan names the indicators and their owners, and the satisfaction baseline rests on 127 responses.
6 August 2026
Energy + the REZ
EnergyCo has put $14.5 million on the table for mobile and internet coverage across the REZ, a grant providers apply into for up to 70 per cent of project costs, opening in the coming months. What was announced, what the REZ is, and how big it is in proportion.
24 July 2026