Energy Minister Can Set Up Access Schemes for Large Power Users; Large Power Users Must Pay Their Own Network Costs
Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Topics
electricity costs energy infrastructure land use network infrastructure public finance renewable energy
Introduced by: The Hon Jihad Dib MP (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
James Griffin LIB
“The Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026 goes to the heart of one of the biggest economic and infrastructure questions facing this State: How can New South Wales capture the extraordinary opportunity of data centre investment without asking mums and dads and small businesses to foot the bill? Let me start with the opportunity, because it is real and it is significant.”
Steve Whan ALP
“I support the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. I will highlight a few points and commend the Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government for his second reading speech, which I will not repeat because it is so comprehensive.”
Justin Clancy LIB
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to debate on the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. The bill comes before the House at a time when the scale of data centre development proposed across New South Wales is changing rapidly. That is no longer an abstract policy question for the community I represent.”
Edmond Atalla ALP
“I make a brief contribution to debate in support of the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026.”
Jenny Leong GRN
“On behalf of The Greens, I contribute to debate on the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. The Greens will not oppose the bill in this place, but we will seek to improve it with amendments in the other place.”
Brendan Moylan NAT
“I speak in debate on the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026 and confirm to the House that I commend the Opposition amendments that will be moved. I also join the member for Manly and the hardworking member for Albury in placing on record that this issue requires a standalone bill in order to address all the concerns that our communities have about data centres.”
Jacqui Scruby IND
“I support the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. T his bill is a sign ificant step in New South Wales, which I note is leading the nation to put overdue and much - needed guardrails in place for the protection of electricity price s, particularly with the development of data centres .”
Alex Greenwich IND
“I contribute to debate on the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. New South Wales is experiencing a boom in data centre development, driven by generative artificial intelligence. Data centres are hungry for power, water and land, and their impacts on the environment and access to vital infrastructure is causing alarm across communities all over the world.”
Judy Hannan IND
“I believe we probably are too late, because we already have data centres in the pipeline. The Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026 addresses electricity, but some of the centres will be powered by gas. Not many members may have heard about the Cloud Carrier data centre that is proposed for the Southern Highlands.”
Wendy Tuckerman LIB
“I speak on the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. I acknowledge from the outset that data centres represent an important economic opportunity for New South Wales. The growth in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital infrastructure is happening at an extraordinary pace.”
Paul Toole NAT
“I speak in debate on the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. There is a simple principle that I contribute to the debate: If a data centre creates the demand, the data centre should pay the bill. It should not be paid by regional communities. They are already being asked to carry more and more of the burden of this State’s infrastructure.”
Jihad Dib ALP
“I am pleased to speak in reply on the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026. I thank members for their contributions to debate, particularly the member for Manly, who has been a constructive shadow Minister. He is a former Minister and has worked on this matter a great deal. He has an incredible sense of understanding of the importance of this work.”
News articles and press releases
Second Reading Speech, Electricity Infrastructure Investment Amendment Bill 2026
Jihad Dib MP, NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government — 2026-08-05
The bill amends the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020, which I will refer to as "the Act", in three important respects. First, it enables the Minister for Energy to make regulations with respect to large energy users connecting to the electricity network. Secondly, it amends the Act to enable the access scheme framework to be expanded to new large energy users, such as data centres. Third, it allows critical network projects to be delivered and financed in a more flexible and efficient way, resulting in lower costs for New South Wales households and businesses.