Obscure change to power poles set to pressure prices

Calls to freeze South Australia’s emergency services levy

You might pass hundreds of them every day without batting an eyelid, but a change to power poles could see power bills marginally go up for some customers.

Customers of Essential Energy in NSW will see their bills increase by $1.50 a year as the company makes the switch from timber power poles to composite poles made from fibreglass and resin.

The more expensive poles have been brought in for bushfire-prone areas of the country and the company claims they are quicker to install and have longer lifespans.

Timber industry representatives, however, slammed the move to replace the wooden poles.

"This is a budget announcement that families and businesses in NSW did not need," Australian Forest Product Association chief executive James Jooste said.

"Switching to more expensive composite poles will immediately increase power prices during a cost-of-living crisis."

Essential Energy hopes to transition all of its power poles to composite materials by 2029.

A spokesperson from Essential Energy said the rollout will replace 2200 timber poles in bushfire-prone areas and replace 9000 poles at the end of their lifespan per year.

In its proposal to the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) last year, the company noted "bushfire risk is one of Essential Energy's biggest risks."

The company maintains the change to customers' bills will be small.

"The impact on an average residential customer bill due to the change to composite poles is $1.54 per year," it said.

"The bill impact was accepted by participating customers in October 2022 as part of the customer engagement process."

The AER, which regulates the energy industry, stated that in 2024 Essential Energy's revenue would increase, mostly due to inflation and rising interest rates.

Power bills for Essential Energy were set to increase by $39 per year between 2024 and 2029, including the small costs of changing to composite poles.