Bushfire safety plan: Powercor finally releases power pole replacement plan

A major Victorian electricity distributor has moved to prevent its power poles and lines from sparking fires. See how many will be replaced - and where.

Powercor has finally been forced to lift its game after its network of poles and wires sparked the 2018 St Patrick’s Day fires. Picture: David Caird

Powercor has finally released its bushfire mitigation plan, revealing it will replace or reinforce 25,241 wooden power poles in high bushfire risk areas across the western half of Victoria over the next five years.

All up Powercor has commitment to replace at least 34,650 of the poles across its network, which stretches from Geelong to Yarrawonga in the north and west to the South Australian border.

Of the 25,241 wood pole interventions in high bushfire risk areas, Powercor has promised at least 13,614 will be replaced, while the remainder are reinforced.

Powercor pole replacement program table.

It’s plan also commits to replacing no less than 3519 poles in these areas, which are currently propped up with reinforcing stakes.

The plan follows two years of criticism of the majority Chinese-owned business, after the collapse of a one of its power pole was implicated in starting the 2018 St Patrick’s Day fire at Garvoc in Victoria’s south west.

Powercor has since argued it followed all “necessary safety processes and procedures to maintain the network”.

But Energy Safe Victoria has found more than 100,000 ageing messmate power poles in Powercor’s network are at risk of rot and collapse and has repeatedly called on the company to replace or reinforce at least 39,770 poles in the five years to 2026, after years of underperformance.

One ESV technical documents shows Powercor replaced or staked (reinforced) less than 1000 poles in 2018.

ESV has given provisional approval to Powercor’s latest bushfire mitigation plan, pending more detail being supplied in regard to its powerline and pole works.

Even then ESV is set to keep a close eye on Powercor’s commitments, given the Australian Energy Regulator recently found that between 2016 and 2020 “Powercor didn’t replace the poles that they said they would”.

A copy of the latest plan can be found here.