Electricity Safety Amendment (Bushfire Mitigation Civil Penalties Scheme) Bill 2017 [VIC]

Monday 27 February 2017 @ 12.54 p.m. | Legal Research

On 8 February 2017, the Victorian Legislative Assembly introduced the Electricity Safety Amendment (Bushfire Mitigation Civil Penalties Scheme) Bill 2017. The Bill provides civil penalties as a measure of last resort to ensure that full effect is given to the recommendations of the royal commission into bushfire risk and other matters.

Background to the Bill

According to the Second Reading Speech, the Bill is an important measure to reduce the bushfire threat posed by powerline faults to regional and rural Victorian communities.

According to the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, the introduction of the Bill marked the eighth anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires of 7 February 2009. The Bill seeks to provide Victorian regional and rural communities with an assurance that they will receive the full safety benefit from enhanced bushfire mitigation technology. The Bill will require the distribution businesses to achieve these bushfire mitigation obligations by prescribed program delivery milestones.

Amendments in the Bill

The Bill will provide powers in the Electricity Safety Act 1998 (VIC) for the director of energy safety and the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change to pursue civil penalties against the electricity distribution businesses as a measure of last resort to ensure that the distribution businesses deliver specified bushfire safety measures on time and to the correct standard. The Bill will ensure that the electricity distribution businesses meet enhanced powerline fault detection and suppression obligations and replace bare wires with covered conductor or undergrounded powerlines in areas of the state of highest bushfire risk. The Bill will also amend the act to allow the director of energy safety to compel more transparent reporting from the distribution businesses on how they plan and deliver the enhanced standards and their broader bushfire mitigation activities.

The Bill provides for the following obligations:

  • The first obligation specifies that AusNet Services, Powercor and Jemena must demonstrate compliance with the enhanced fault detection and suppression standards on all 22-kilovolt powerlines emanating from their share of 45 targeted zone substations in rural and regional Victoria. The bill requires the businesses to deliver these upgrades according to a 'points' scheme;
  • The second obligation in the Bill specifies that the distribution businesses must construct or replace high-voltage bare-wire powerlines in 33 specified electric line construction areas, either by undergrounding or constructing covered conductors; and
  • The third obligation in the Bill requires that the distribution businesses deliver all remaining single wire earth return powerline automatic circuit reclosers by 31 December 2020.

The Bill will establish a stronger compliance mechanism which will ensure that the powerline bushfire protection benefits recommended by the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission are safeguarded for Victorians. In particular, the Bill will give Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) new audit and information notice powers in relation to the new bushfire mitigation obligations. This will allow ESV to verify the information provided by the distribution businesses regarding delivery of the new bushfire mitigation obligations. The bill will also expand ESV's existing information notice powers to allow interrogation of all bushfire mitigation activities undertaken by the distribution businesses in the performance of their existing obligations under the act.

The Bill was introduced into the Legislative Council on 23 February 2017 and is awaiting second reading debate when the Victorian Parliament sits again on 7 March 2017.

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Sources:

Electricity Safety Amendment (Bushfire Mitigation Civil Penalties Scheme) Bill 2017 [VIC] and secondary materials as published on TimeBase LawOne

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