Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission

On 7 February 2009 Victoria experienced the most deadly bushfires in its history. 173 people lost their lives. Damages have been estimated at over $4 billion.
In July 2010 the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission submitted its final report.

Of the 67 recommendations made by the Royal Commission, eight related to electricity. These recommendations, and their status, are available here.

Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce

The Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce was originally appointed in 2010 to investigate the relative costs and benefits of technology designed to reduce the risk of bushfire starts from powerlines – in keeping with Royal Commission recommendations 27 and 32.

The Taskforce undertook community consultation as well as looking at the cost and abilities of different technologies to prevent fire starts. The Taskforce gave its report to Government in September 2011 - this is available from the Energy Safe Victoria website.

You can read the detailed Government response to the Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce report.

In summary the Government has accepted all of the recommendations of the taskforce and will implement a program of work expected to reduce the risk of electricity assets starting bushfires by up to 64 percent and cost approximately $750 million.

Under this package:

• New generation protection devices will be installed on rural Single Wire Earth Return powerlines
• A new advanced technology that acts like a safety switch for powerlines will be installed in selected substations
• The Safer Electricity Assets Fund will be increased to $250 million

This program of works will be carried out over the next ten years. Work on these measures will begin as soon as practicable. Some recommendations will be put in place immediately, others will take longer because of the size and complexity of the work required.

Safer Electricity Assets Fund (SEAF)

The Safer Electrical Assets Fund, established in November 2010 has been expanded from $50 million to up to $250 million.
Out of this fund:

• $200 million will be made available over the next ten years to fund powerline replacement in high risk areas.
• $40 million will be provided in grants to community members adversely affected by powerline bushfire safety activities. This may include contributing to the costs of alternative supply options such as back-up generators.
• $10 million will be used to identify new technologies and management practices capable of reducing bushfire risk from electricity assets.

For more information on powerline bushfire safety activities you can visit the Energy Save Victoria website or call the DPI customer service centre on 136 186.

Related reports:

National workshop on rural electricity network options to reduce bushfire risk
National workshop on rural electricity network options to reduce bushfire risk - Appendix C