Thursday 30th of January 2025
Some 500 regional Victorians have already signed an open letter asking for upgrades to local energy infrastructure, put forward by Farmers for Climate Action – and FCA is asking more people to add their voice.
The open letter is addressed to the Australian Energy Regulator, which must sign off on regional energy infrastructure upgrades such as poles and wires. Farmers for Climate Action is asking those who live on the Powercor Network in Western Victoria, to help fight for a better local network by signing the open letter.
The proposed upgrades include:
- $50 million to upgrade Single Wire Earth Return lines
- $2M for energy literacy programs
- $2.1M for expert energy advisory services
- $4.8M for community-led renewable energy projects
- $5.9M for vulnerable customer assistance to support electrification
Powercor has said these investments would increase bills by only $4 per year.
The open letter follows the Rural and Regional Energy Summit in Bendigo in October 2024 hosted by FCA in partnership with Powercor. The Summit brought together Powercor customers from across Western Victoria to discuss the 2026-31 Regulatory Reset.
FCA CEO Natalie Collard said these upgrades were “a no-brainer”.
“Rural and regional Victorians pay the most for electricity yet suffer from the most blackouts,” Ms Collard said.
“Rural and regional Victoria produces the electricity our cities use, and rural and regional Victoria deserves the same quality of energy service that cities receive FCA calls on the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) to back these investments to give regional Victorians fair access to a more reliable energy supply.
Ms Collard said upgrading Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) lines was a clear priority from the summit, with a huge push to improve the lines for more than 3,000 customers.
“We hear stories of farmers paying out of their own pocket to fix powerlines because they aren’t getting reliable electricity,” Ms Collard said.
“Storms and bushfires made worse and more frequent by climate change are really hard on rural electricity networks. We need governments to invest in local electricity upgrades to keep the network running properly.”
VFF President, FCA board member and Quambatook farmer Brett Hosking said, rural Victorians are already making a significant contribution to the renewable energy shift by hosting transmission lines, wind turbines and solar farms, yet we don’t have the infrastructure in our communities to ensure reliable energy to our own homes and businesses.”
“As farmers and stewards of the land we are already focused on how we can continue to produce food and fibre while reducing our emissions, but with the current poles and wires we can’t even charge an electric car.”
“Poll after poll has shown rural and regional people support the energy shift, and we need governments to realise that upgrading our local energy network is part of that energy shift.”
ENDS
Media Contact: Les White 0409805122 [email protected]
