Western Australia’s state-owned Western Power has completed its largest underground power project throughout St James, East Victoria Park and Bentley, removing 821 poles and 34km of overhead cable, and installing 542 new streetlights and around 53km of underground cable.
Residents and businesses in the areas will now enjoy improved safety and reliability and transformed streetscapes.
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Western Power worked with the City of Canning and Town of Victoria Park to deliver the project, providing underground power to 2,276 residents and businesses.
The project is the third of nine undergrounding projects to be completed under Western Power’s Network Renewal Undergrounding Program Pilot.
Undergrounding project areas are identified based on Western Power’s network driven approach to replace ageing overhead assets with underground power.
The cost of undergrounding is shared between the state government, Western Power, local governments and property owners.
Energy Minister Bill Johnston said, “I’m so pleased to see Western Power’s latest package of undergrounding work is now complete in St James, East Victoria Park and Bentley.
“The investment in underground power by the State Government, local government, and residents delivers clear benefits to the community including improved power reliability and safer and more aesthetically pleasing streetscapes.
“It also provides greater power supply capacity, facilitating the connection of renewables and helping to deliver on the WA Government’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.”
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Victoria Park MLA Hannah Beazley said, “I’m very excited to see this project come to fruition for residents and business owners in St James, East Victoria Park and Bentley.
“Not only does underground power improve reliability, it reduces operational and maintenance costs for local governments and residents.”
