Power distributor gets a shock

AN ELECTRICITY distribution company has been handed a seven-figure fine after being convicted for a record number of breaches of the Electricity Safety Act.

Legal action brought by Energy Safe Australia concluded last week, with Powercor Australia prosecuted for 105 offences, including failing to inspect almost 5,000 powerlines, and failing to clear vegetation from more than 100 other lines.

Powercor pleaded guilty to the charges, with the breaches leading to a bushfire in February 2023 that damaged more than 185 hectares of land in the Glenmore area.

Powercor has been ordered to pay $2.1 million for the breaches.

Energy Safe chief executive officer Leanne Hughson said Powercor had neglected its duty to minimise the hazards and risks inherent in an electricity network.

“Any electricity company that chooses to do business in Victoria has to comply with the safety laws in this state. The community deserves it, Energy Safe demands it.

“Victoria is one of the most bushfire-prone areas in the world and electricity companies have a duty to prioritise public safety and minimise fire risks.

“By failing to manage vegetation around its powerlines, Powercor put one community in real danger and many others at risk.”

A Powercor spokesperson said the company had to do better.

“Keeping our network safe for our communities is always our focus,” the spokesperson said.

“We acknowledge the court sentence and accept we have not met our obligations or the community’s expectations in relation to these incidents.

“Over recent years, we have increased our investment to improve how we manage vegetation near our powerlines.

“Our program includes using three helicopters fitted with advanced Light Detection and Ranging technology to inspect our whole network every year and analyse this data to inform our cutting program.

“We are on track to inspecting all our powerlines by the middle of this year and have a record number of vegetation contractors engaged in cutting.

“During 2023 we cut more than 500,000 trees and shrubs growing near more than 50,000 powerline spans.”

More than half of the 140 powerlines that Energy Safe inspections deemed dangerously close to vegetation, which Powercor failed to clear, were in hazardous bushfire risk areas.

Powercor failed to inspect a total of 4,866 powerlines in the Horsham Rural Council and Greater Shepparon City Council Areas before the 2021 fire danger periods, hence the case being heard in the Shepparton Magistrates Court.

“The length of uninspected lines was the distance from Melbourne to Sydney; that’s an inexcusable failure and unacceptable risk to a lot of people’s safety,” Ms Hughson said.

“As the Glenmore fire showed, neglecting even one span of electric line can have dire consequences.”

A CFA spokesperson said the Glenmore fire “had a huge impact on the community.”

“Forty-seven CFA units responded to a grass and scrub fire on Glenmore Road in Glenmore at around 3.35pm on 17 February,” the CFA spokesperson said.

“It is not for CFA to comment on the fine; that is a matter for the courts.”

In sentencing, Magistrate Amina Bhai noted Powercor’s early guilty plea to all charges but rejected its claim its offending was at the lower end of the scale.