A Renewable Energy Zone is a designated area where new generation, storage and the network to carry it are planned together rather than piecemeal. The versions built so far in New South Wales are rural: Central-West Orana, New England, South West. They involve large-scale generation on farmland and long, contested transmission lines to move the power to where people live.

The Illawarra REZ is described by the government as Australia’s first urban one, and the release is specific about what that changes. It is being shaped to integrate consumer energy resources: rooftop solar systems, home batteries and community-scale batteries. Spare government land and commercial roof space are being investigated to minimise impacts on surrounding communities and the environment.

Read that against what an urban region actually has and it follows. The Illawarra has limited farmland, a lot of roof, and a grid connection already built for heavy industry. The constraint that makes rural REZs slow, which is acquiring a corridor across other people’s land, is largely absent, and the resource that makes an urban one possible, which is thousands of existing roofs, is abundant.

What the group is, and who they want

The Community Reference Group will represent communities in the REZ and, in the government’s words, help shape the region’s energy future. It is to inform how the REZ can support local households, industries and future energy needs, and ensure community perspectives are reflected throughout planning.

EnergyCo is seeking volunteers who live locally, with experience or expertise from eight named backgrounds: First Nations, environment, community, local government, education and training, land use and strategic planning, social justice, and business and industry. Adam Zarth has been appointed Independent Chair and David Petrie Deputy Independent Chair.

That list is worth reading as a description of who the government expects to have a view. Social justice sitting alongside business and industry is not a standard pairing on an infrastructure reference group, and its presence suggests the distributional question, who pays for and who benefits from an energy build in an urban area, is expected to come up.

What it is not

Our view, and it is opinion: a reference group informs, it does not decide. The release says the group will inform how the REZ can support the region and that contributions will shape the approach. Nothing in it gives the group a vote on siting, procurement or timing. That is normal for this kind of body, and it is worth stating plainly so nobody joins expecting otherwise, or dismisses it for being less than it claims. Its influence will depend on how early it is consulted and whether its advice is published.

The other thing to watch is the industrial argument sitting behind it. The release points at battery manufacturing, clean energy supply chains and advanced manufacturing as opportunities, drawing on a workforce with generations of heavy-industry experience. Whether an urban REZ becomes a manufacturing story or only a rooftop-generation story is the more consequential question, and it will not be settled by this group.

How to register

Update, 19 August 2026: expressions of interest have closed. They closed at 5pm on Monday 10 August 2026, and the government has not published a further round. The rest of this section is kept as a record of what the round asked for.

Expressions of interest closed at 5pm on Monday 10 August 2026. The government directs people to energyco.nsw.gov.au/our-projects/illawarra-rez for information.

Minister for the Illawarra and South Coast Ryan Park said the region is in a unique position to support the state’s energy transformation and encouraged locals with experience across community, industry, environment, education, planning and First Nations perspectives to put their hand up. Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said the group will give locals a direct say in how the Illawarra REZ proceeds. EnergyCo Chief Executive Hannah McCaughey said tapping local perspectives is essential during the planning stages.

How we sourced this

The registration period and its 5pm Monday 10 August close, the description of the Illawarra REZ as Australia’s first urban Renewable Energy Zone, the role and purpose of the Community Reference Group, the eight backgrounds sought, the appointments of Adam Zarth and David Petrie, the integration of rooftop solar, home batteries and community-scale batteries, the investigation of spare government land and commercial roof space, the reference to industry roundtables and to battery manufacturing, clean energy supply chains and advanced manufacturing, and all three quotations are from the NSW Government media release of 20 July 2026, published by EnergyCo and released by the Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast and the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. Read 31 July 2026.

We have not seen the group’s terms of reference, any REZ declaration instrument or any planning document, so what the group can and cannot influence is described from the release alone. The comparison with rural Renewable Energy Zones, and the reading of the eight backgrounds, are ours. The paragraphs beginning “Our view” and the one following it are opinion, built on the sourced facts above them.

Sources

  1. EnergyCo / NSW Government, Illawarra REZ Community Reference Group seeking members (media release, 20 July 2026, released by the Minister for the Illawarra and the South Coast and the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces; read 31 July 2026): the open registrations and the 5pm Monday 10 August close, the characterisation of the Illawarra REZ as Australia's first urban Renewable Energy Zone, the group's purpose, the eight backgrounds sought, the appointment of Adam Zarth as Independent Chair and David Petrie as Deputy, the consumer-energy-resources approach including rooftop solar and home and community-scale batteries, the investigation of spare government land and commercial roof space, the industry roundtables and named manufacturing opportunities, and the quotations from Ryan Park, Paul Scully and Hannah McCaughey.

Spotted an error, or joined the group? Tell us and we will check it against the sources and log the outcome here.