Electrification is creating new challenges for electricity networks. Electric vehicles, batteries, solar generation, flexible demand and changing customer expectations are introducing uncertainty that traditional planning approaches were not designed for. At the same time, society expects electricity networks to remain reliable, resilient and affordable while supporting increasing electrification and emissions reduction objectives. This seminar provides a practical introduction to electricity distribution network planning and explores how planners think about uncertainty, risk and long-term decision making. Through a series of real-world examples, it examines questions such as: What are electricity networks actually optimising for? How much infrastructure is enough? When should customers respond to price signals, and when is direct network intervention required? What role should data, forecasting and customer behaviour play in future energy systems?

Lianne Moller is the Network Planning Manager at Aurora Energy, responsible for network planning, forecasting and long-term capacity planning across Aurora's electricity distribution network. She has more than 20 years' experience in the electricity industry across Australia and New Zealand, working in areas including network planning, forecasting, reliability, major customer connections, distributed energy resources and network strategy. Lianne is particularly interested in how electricity networks can support electrification while balancing reliability, resilience, affordability and customer choice. Her current work includes forecasting future network needs, developing hosting capacity information, improving network visibility through smart meter data, and helping Aurora prepare for an increasingly distributed and data-driven energy system.