Underground power program will cost $30 million per suburb

FULLY undergrounding power to Darwin’s suburbs could cost up to $390 million and take decades

Power poles are set to go and nine Darwin schools will receive underground power

FULLY undergrounding power to Darwin’s suburbs could cost up to $390 million and take decades.

After Cyclone Marcus caused widespread disruption in March 2018, the Labor Government announced it would restart the undergrounding program at a cost of $10 million a year.

But when the dire state of the Territory’s finances were revealed, that program was significantly scaled back to include just a handful of Darwin schools.

Work began on Tuesday at Wagaman Primary School, the first of nine schools on the Government’s list. Work on those schools is expected to be complete on all schools by April 2021.

Treasurer Nicole Manison said the extended program to underground power to homes in Darwin’s older suburbs would begin in 2021 with a budget of $10 million a year.

Ms Manison said it would cost about $30 million for each suburb. Thirteen suburbs do not have underground power, meaning Ms Manison’s estimates would mean the full program would take 40 years and cost $390 million.

Ms Manison said the Government was looking for ways to “build maximum resilience” into the network.

She said the $30 million per suburb figure was based on current prices.

“The longer you go in time the higher that price will get and escalate,” Ms Manison said.

No decision has been made as to which suburb will be the first to benefit from underground power.

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The last cost estimate to underground Darwin’s power supply in its entirety was about $300 million.

The other schools are: Nemarluk, Alawa, Larrakeyah, Moil, Jingili, Stuart Park and Parap primary schools and St Johns College in The Gardens.