Residents in the City of Wanneroo’s oldest suburbs could be forced to wait more than a quarter of a century for powerlines to be shifted underground despite concerns about “inequitable” infrastructure. This timeframe was outlined in a recent city report detailing the potential costs of moving existing overhead powerlines underground in urban areas of the city, which also laid bare the significant financial barriers.
Concentration of Overhead Infrastructure
Most overhead electricity infrastructure in the city is concentrated in Two Rocks, Yanchep, Quinns Rocks, Wanneroo, Koondoola, Girrawheen and Marangaroo. The current estimate to move all power underground in the city is $243 million.
Funding Challenges
The report warns the scale of funding required would be difficult for the city to absorb without significant external support, with any rollout likely to rely on a mix of government funding, Western Power contributions and resident charges of around $11,000 per household.
“Cost analysis for the City of Wanneroo undergrounding overhead powerlines delivers significant long-term benefits to the city, particularly in terms of safety, reliability, and amenity,” city officers said in the report. “However, the financial cost of a city-wide rollout is considered prohibitive without increased external funding support, including that of the community. Assuming a city contribution of 50 per cent to the infrastructure cost totalling $101m, the remaining $101m infrastructure cost and $41m operational cost will need to be recovered from approximately 12,500 affected customers.”
Decades-Long Wait
But residents in Perth’s far north are likely to be waiting decades before the financial implications of any rollout are even considered, as current programs continue to prioritise inner metropolitan suburbs. Western Power’s targeted underground power program has so far focused on Perth’s inner suburbs, including Tuart Hill, Mt Hawthorn, North Perth and Balcatta north of the river, as well as Hamilton Hill, South Fremantle and Palmyra to the south.
Given this, current projections indicate that underground power in many outer metropolitan suburbs, such as the City of Wanneroo, is likely to take 20 to 25 years or more to arrive. Suburbs in the City of Joondalup are also facing similar wait times, with areas such as Duncraig, Marmion and Padbury listed as long-term projects under current rollout schedules.
Inequitable Infrastructure Concerns
During a recent council agenda briefing, Wanneroo officials acknowledged its recent report highlighted an inequitable standard of infrastructure across the city. “Is it fair (to say) that there is an inequitable standard of power infrastructure across the city, that not every single residential area has the same quality and standard?” Cr James Rowe asked. “Yes, in that sense of comparison, that is correct,” assets director Harminder Singh said.
The report said many suburbs serviced by overhead power supply experienced more frequent disruptions and outages. “Power outages are especially frustrating during extreme weather periods, as poletop fires, wind and rainstorms impact the frequency and significance of power outages,” city officers said in the report. “Major storm incidents account for an estimated 70–85 per cent of outage impacts. By undergrounding power, this would have the equivalent reduction in outages resulting from major storm events.”
Next Steps
Based on the report, city officers are recommending the council support the mayor and administration in continuing to advocate on behalf of residents for Western Power to bring forward underground power projects. They are also requesting approval for a business case and cost analysis into the feasibility of the city funding undergrounding projects, as well as inviting Western Power to brief council at a future concept forum. The recommendations will be voted on by the council at its next meeting on June 23.
