- The Victorian Farmers Federation and Farmers for Climate Action are
joining forces to call for fair regional power - The two farm groups want country people to have the same access to
reliable power that city people do - VFF and FCA are backing Powercor’s $3.6 billion investment to make this
happen
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) and Farmers for Climate Action (FCA) have united to call for fair regional power. To bring regional poles and wires and other infrastructure to a better service level will see an investment of $3.6 billion from Powercor. Some of the proposed upgrades include:
- $63 million to upgrade Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) lines
- $2.2 million for energy literacy programs
- $2.3 million for expert energy advisory services
- $5.3 million for communities to enhance inclusion in the renewable energyshift$6.5 million for vulnerable customer assistance to support electrification
Powercor estimates that the $3.6bn of enhancements would result in an increase of approximately $4 per year on household bills. FCA CEO Natalie Collard said country people deserved the same access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy that city people have.
“The country people who grow our food and power our cities deserve upgraded poles and wires so they can have a reliable energy supply,” Ms Collard said.
“Country people and farmers want to take part in the clean energy shift, and benefit from it, and they need upgraded poles and wires to be able to do that.
There’s not much point putting solar panels on your roof if you can’t export any electricity because the power line near your house is too small to take the power from your panels.
“This investment would strengthen local economies and cut downtime during storms and heatwaves.
”VFF President and FCA board member Brett Hosking said that local energy networks to give regional Victorians fair access to reliable electricity was crucial.“
Rural Victorians are doing the heavy lifting in the clean energy shift by hosting transmission lines, wind turbines, and solar farms.
“Farmers and country people deserve updated poles, wires and basic electricity infrastructure in our communities that give us the secure and reliable energy we need to run our homes and businesses.
”FCA and Powercor, hosted the Rural and Regional Energy Summit in Bendigo last October. The summit brought together Powercor customers from Western Victoria to discuss the 2026-31 Regulatory Reset and heard from now-VFF President, Brett Hosking. Participants agreed on the need for significant upgrades to the region’s energy infrastructure.
The Summit report is available online. The AER is accepting submissions until the 14th of May, and will then make a determination – sign the open letter here.