Powering new developments to get Victorians in homes

The state energy regulator is looking at how to turn the lights on faster at new Victorian housing developments.

The Essential Services Commission is asking Victorians to have their say on the best way to address electricity connection wait times in an issues paper released today.

Options being considered include placing an obligation on distribution businesses to publicly report their performance, placing expectations on distribution businesses to regularly review the connections processes and regulating the timeframes to undertake stages of the connections process.

Commission chief executive John Hamill says while the electricity connections process has improved since a 2018 review, these proposed changes could get reduce any undue delays.

“If we can remove undue delays when connecting electricity to new developments it will give developers confidence to build, and that means more homes for Victorians.

“We want to hear from industry stakeholders as well as members of the wider community on what changes we make to this process to make it more efficient,” he said.

In October 2018, Victoria’s electricity distributors agreed to address delays in connecting new developments from the planning stage through to turning on the power.

Distribution networks have implemented a number of changes to date, including upgrading IT systems, establishing new standards and reporting on their performance.

To have your say on the commission’s electricity connections review visit Engage Victoria, consultation closes 7 August 2020.