THE Victorian Farmers Federation and Farmers for Climate Action have joined forces to fight for a fairer deal with regional power.
Their call to bring regional poles and wires and other infrastructure to a better service level will need an investment of $3.6 billion from Powercor.
VFF president and FCA board member Brett Hosking said 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.
Powercor estimates the $3.6 billion worth of enhancements would result in an increase of approximately $4 per year on household bills.
Mr Hosking, who farms at Quambatook, said local energy networks to give 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,” Mr Hosking said.
“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 chief executive Natalie Collard said country people deserved the same access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy which city people already 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,” she said.
“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.”
FCA and Powercor hosted the Rural and Regional Energy Summit in Bendigo last October.
The summit report is available at farmersforclimateaction.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/RR-Summit-Report-Final-22.11.24-1.pdf
The AER is accepting submissions until May 14 and will then make a determination.
