More transparency needed in land access negotiations

Confidentiality agreements shroud in secrecy any discussion about "going rates" for option, easement and other compensation payments such as disturbance or commercial incentives.

The federal government's ambitious renewable energy target is dependent on farmers being signed up to host wind and solar projects, particularly over the next five years.

However, as seen in so many different areas of this renewable policy, there are very few protections to ensure landholders are treated fairly and have access to accurate, timely information to support their negotiations.

In what has essentially become a race to the bottom for a number of companies, farmers are limited in their capability to find out what the market rate is for the land that is so highly sought after by energy companies.

There is no transparency about what these companies will be making themselves and estimates about power generation are all too-often vague.

This leads to equally vague payment plans which are mostly difficult to decipher and compare. It is not uncommon to hear of vast differences emerging over per megawatt or per hectare payments.

Or of huge variations in benefits offered to neighbouring landowners or affected communities from region to region, or project to project.

You begin to question the integrity of the offers being made to farmers and the companies making those offers.

One can't help but presume the landholder and neighbours will nearly always come off second best in a scenario where credible, and transparent, market and compensation information is not freely available for all involved.

Companies that can manage tender processes for host landholders are starting to appear on the renewable land access scene, highlighting that in the absence of market information, this is in fact a very hotly contested space which can drive financial benefits for landholders.

It once again proves there are some glaring price discrepancies depending on who you deal with.

The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner, Andrew Dyer, has updated recommendations around payments to farmers.

However, until market transparency is mandated and corporate-equivalent penalties are in place for companies which do not provide transparent market information, farmers are doing little more than negotiating with themselves.

Farmers are already bearing a lot of the risk when it comes to the renewable energy transition because decommissioning clauses along with taxation implications have still not been addressed by the federal government.

It's now past time the government establishes and regulates a completely transparent market for land access to inject some credibility, integrity and fairness into the transition to renewables.