Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy has questioned the authenticity and effectiveness of new guidelines that aim to steer engagement between renewable energy facility developers and communities.

Minister D’Ambrosio released the Community Engagement and Social Value Guidelines which sets out expectations of renewable energy project developers to engage early and meaningfully with landholders, neighbours and communities and demonstrate how feedback is incorporated into the final project design.

The guidelines also aim to set out expectations on how developers support local economic investment, deliver community benefits and put in place clear processes for complaints and dispute resolution.

They set 43 expectations that developers must meet to access Victoria’s transmission network under the Victorian Access Regime.

However, Mr McCurdy questioned the authenticity and effectiveness of the guidelines.

"If Labor was serious about community engagement, it wouldn't have handed itself sweeping powers to override local concerns," he said of the removal of the VCAT appeals process for objectors against renewable energy facilities," he said.

"Trust is built through genuine consultation, not government mandates and glossy guidelines.

"Communities don't need another set of Labor guidelines; they need a genuine say.

"Too many regional Victorians feel renewable projects are being imposed on them, with consultation treated as a box-ticking exercise rather than meaningful engagement."

RE-Alliance national director Andrew Bray said the guidelines should help lift the standard of renewable energy development in regional communities.

“If you live in regional Victoria and have renewable projects developing around you, this is your checklist to make sure developers are doing their due diligence," he said.

Mr Bray said the guidelines responded to concerns regional communities had been raising for years.

“Insurance, decommissioning and non-disclosure agreements are not side issues, they go directly to whether people feel protected, informed and able to make fair decisions," he said.

“Communities need confidence that developers will have a local presence and demonstrate how local concerns have shaped the final project and these guidelines should deliver that.”

Mr Bray said the guidelines could help shift community benefit beyond small grants or one-off payments and that coordinated planning across Renewable Energy Zones would be critical.

“Community benefit has to mean more than a cheque, it should mean practical, lasting benefits shaped by local priorities," he said.

"Things like local jobs, training, community energy, housing, shared infrastructure, local procurement and Traditional Owner-led Caring for Country, biodiversity and climate initiatives."

He said implementation would determine whether the guidelines made a real difference.

“These guidelines set a new bar for the country in terms of community engagement standards, but the next test is delivering on the accountability that communities need," Mr Bray said.

“The guidelines provide the opportunity for communities to build relationships with developers and broker strong agreements for lasting local benefit.”

Farmers for Climate Change CEO Verity Morgan-Schmidt said the Victorian government and renewable energy industry need to re-build trust in many regional communities around the clean energy build, and if implemented well, this goes some way toward that.