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AusNet Wood Pole Management

Reports about AusNet's Wood Pole Management practices.

AusNet Services Pole Management final report

With public and environmental safety as its highest priority, Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) has released its final report into AusNet Services Wood Pole Management:

Background

The investigation and delivery of ESV’s final report into AusNet Services’ wood pole management practices follows a similar investigation into Powercor’s practices and subsequent report, published in December 2019, and ESV’s commitment to undertaking a review of the wood pole management practices across Victorian Major Electricity Companies (MECs).

This final report into the Wood Pole Management policies and practices of AusNet Services provides a summary of the detailed technical review undertaken by ESV, including:

  • objectives of the investigation,
  • key findings and their implications, and
  • recommendations for future undertakings

Amendments to the Draft Report

ESV has made changes to the wording of Draft Report that include defining third (3rd) party cause of pole failures and providing greater clarity on the rationale behind Major Electricity Companies (MEC’s) use of different materials for poles.

ESV response to submissions

ESV invited public feedback on the Draft report and received five submissions. A document specifically addressing the questions raised by those contributors has been produced and is available on this site.

Next steps

AusNet Services has developed a wood pole management improvement plan to address all recommendations and findings in the final report and submit this to ESV, meeting Recommendation 1 in the final report. The plan includes clear and measurable milestones that can be monitored through regulator reporting.

Timeline

Date Activity

04 Aug 2021

Public consultation period opens

01 Sep 2021

Public consultation period closes

29 Oct 2021

ESV publishes submissions and its response to submissions on the ESV website

29 Oct 2021

ESV publishes the FINAL report into AusNet Services Wood Pole Management

Resources

ESV’s Final Report into AusNet Services Wood Pole Management:

Public submissions (redacted) in PDF format:

Public consultation – AusNet Services Draft Wood Pole Management Report

With public and environmental safety as its highest priority, Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) has commenced public consultation, inviting submissions on the Draft Report into AusNet Services Wood Pole Management.

Background

The investigation and delivery of ESV’s draft report into AusNet Services’ wood pole management practices follows a similar investigation into Powercor’s practices and subsequent report, published in December 2019, and ESV’s commitment to undertaking a review of the wood pole management practices for all Victorian Major Electricity Companies (MECs).

This draft report into the Wood Pole Management policies and practices of AusNet Services provides a summary of the detailed technical review undertaken by ESV, including:

  • objectives of the investigation,
  • key findings and their implications, and
  • recommendations for future undertakings

Public consultation

ESV is committed to providing an opportunity for the Victorian public to comment on its investigations into the management of wood poles. This is an important step in providing community confidence in the safety of the electricity distribution network across Victoria.

The public consultation and submission period for the Draft Report into AusNet Services Wood Pole Management closed on 1 September 2021. ESV will release the final report as per the timeline below.

Next steps

ESV will review all submissions received, update the report as deemed appropriate and publish a final report.

All submissions and comments received by ESV in relation to this consultation are considered public documents and will be published on ESV’s website. Any personal information contained in the submissions will be redacted to protect the privacy of individuals.

Timeline

Date Activity
4 August 2021 Public consultation period opens
1 September 2021 Public consultation period closes
26 November 2021 ESV publishes submissions and its response to submissions on the ESV website
26 November 2021 ESV publishes the FINAL report into AusNet Services Wood Pole Management

Resources

Date: 28/03/2024 13:32

The material in this print-out was accurate at the time of printing.

Reviewed 29 January 2023

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