Top farm groups call for reliable regional power on par with their city cousins

WITH the Victorian power grid under pressure from extreme weather events and the rapid uptake of renewables, two farmer groups are urging power industry stakeholders to ensure a reliable supply in the regions.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) and Farmers for Climate Action (FCA) have united to call for fair regional power.

It would see Powercor invest $3.6 billion to bring regional poles and wires and other infrastructure to a better service level.

Some of the proposed upgrades include:

$63 million to upgrade Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) lines

$2.2 million for energy literacy programs

$2.3 million for expert energy advisory services

$5.3 million for communities to enhance inclusion in the renewable energy shift, and

$6.5 million for vulnerable customer assistance to support electrification.

The VFF and FCA revealed that Powercor estimated the $3.6 billion of enhancements would result in an increase of about $4 per year on household bills.

FCA chief executive officer Natalie Collard said country people deserved the same access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy that city people have.

 

“The country people who grow our food and power our cities deserve upgraded poles and wires so they can have a reliable energy supply.

“Country people and farmers want to take part in the clean energy shift, and benefit from it, and they need upgraded poles and wires to be able to do that.

“There’s not much point putting solar panels on your roof if you can’t export any electricity because the power line near your house is too small to take the power from your panels.

“This investment would strengthen local economies and cut downtime during storms and heatwaves.”

VFF president and FCA board member Brett Hosking said local energy networks giving regional Victorians fair access to reliable electricity was crucial.

“Rural Victorians are doing the heavy lifting in the clean energy shift by hosting transmission lines, wind turbines, and solar farms.

“Farmers and country people deserve updated poles, wires and basic electricity infrastructure in our communities that give us the secure and reliable energy we need to run our homes and businesses.”

FCA and Powercor, hosted the Rural and Regional Energy Summit in Bendigo last October.

The summit brought together Powercor customers from Western Victoria to discuss the 2026-31 Regulatory Reset and heard from now VFF President, Brett Hosking.

At the summit, participants agreed on the need for significant upgrades to the region’s energy infrastructure.