POEL Assessment Methodology

POEL Assessment Methodology

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to describe the methodology that the department uses in assessing Registered Electrical Contractor (REC) quotes for the undergrounding of Private Overhead Electricity Lines (POELs) works under the Powerline Replacement Fund (PRF).

Introduction

On 7 February 2009 Victoria suffered the deadliest bushfires in its history. The subsequent Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission found that uninsulated overhead powerlines were the cause of many of these fires, and recommended that Victorian Government contribute towards the cost of replacing these lines, starting in highest priority areas. These findings were corroborated by a subsequent Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce in September 2011, which made its own more detailed recommendations to the Victorian Government on how best to reduce bushfire risk from powerlines.

In December 2011 the Victorian Government pledged to act on the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission and Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce recommendations by committing up to $200 million to the PRF project.

The objective of the PRF is to bring forward the replacement of those powerlines which pose the greatest risk to human life, without imposing additional costs on consumers.

Powerline replacement is generally a more expensive means of reducing bushfire risk than other options (such as network protection equipment or vegetation clearance). Consequently funding for powerline replacement is being targeted at those locations where other options are expected to be less effective due to the nature of both the network and the local environment.

The lines that may be replaced under the PRF project include

·  Distribution lines owned and managed by one of five electricity network distribution businesses, operating in exclusive geographic regions, and

·  POELs that are on private property and the maintenance of which is the responsibility of land owners.

The focus of this document will be on the POELs that RECs are being asked to provide quotes for.

Process Overview

The POEL work is being administered in stages. Stage One was conducted in 2013 with a small number of POEL owners in selected priority locations, namely the Otway Ranges, Dandenong Ranges and the Warburton District.

Subsequent stages of the Program targeted broader areas defined by local government council regions. These local government areas were selected based on an assessment of relative bushfire loss consequence (that is, the potential for loss of life and property) across Victoria. These areas have been further defined to exclude Low Bushfire Risk Areas, as defined by the Country Fire Authority.

The process for the undergrounding of POELs under the fund is as follows;

1.  POEL owner to submit ‘POEL application form’

2.  Submission of quotes from 2 Registered Electrical Contractors (RECs) directly to the department. RECs will need to do a ‘one time’ registration into the program by submitting a ‘Supplier Application Form’

3.  Assessment by the department

4.  Letter of offer issued to the POEL owner and voucher issued to the successful REC advising who has been awarded the works and the amount that is being funded by the PRF project

5.  Unsuccessful REC notified by mail

6.  REC to complete the works and issue the POEL owner a Certificate of Electrical Safety (CoES)

7.  REC and POEL owner to sign voucher

8.  REC to submit voucher signed by both parties, a copy of the CoES and invoice to the department

9.  An audit of the completed works by the department (at its discretion)

10. Payment by the department directly to the REC

Eligibility

To be awarded funds under the project the POELs must currently be;

·  in active use (connected and energised);

·  overhead;

·  bare wire (a span, or part there-of, is bare). If the line is completely insulated the owner is not eligible for funding;

·  located in one of the target areas. These are the local government areas of

Ø  Alpine / Ø  Ararat / Ø  Ballarat / Ø  Baw Baw / Ø  Benalla
Ø  Campaspe / Ø  Cardinia / Ø  Colac-Otway / Ø  Corangamite / Ø  East Gippsland
Ø  Golden Plains / Ø  Greater Bendigo / Ø  Greater Geelong / Ø  Hepburn / Ø  Indigo
Ø  Loddon / Ø  Macedon Ranges / Ø  Mount Alexander / Ø  Mitchell / Ø  Moira
Ø  Moorabool / Ø  Moyne / Ø  Murrindindi / Ø  Nillumbik / Ø  Pyrenees
Ø  Southern Grampians / Ø  South Gippsland / Ø  Surf Coast / Ø  Wangaratta / Ø  Wellington
Ø  Whittlesea / Ø  Wodonga / Ø  Yarra Ranges

and

·  in a High Bushfire Risk Area, as defined by the Country Fire Authority.

The department does not award funds to works that are in progress or have been completed. In order for the POEL owner to access funding under the program they must go through the process as outlined in this document, that is submit an application and seek two quotes for the department to conduct a value for money assessment.

Urgent defect policy

RECs will need to be aware of our policy for POELs issued with an urgent defect notice. If a POEL owner is issued with a notice from their distributor requiring their POEL to be placed underground, the following funding amounts will be applicable.

·  If the works are already undergrounded, or if an arrangement has already been entered into with an REC to perform the works, the POEL owner will not be eligible for any funding under the PRF program. This will be applied if the Electronic Works Request raised by the REC is done prior to PRF receipt of the POEL owner application form.

·  If an urgent defect notice that also requires the POEL to be placed underground has been issued at any time up to PRF receipt of the POEL owner application form, the POEL owner will be eligible for 50% of the cost of undergrounding the POEL. This will be applied if the urgent defect notice is issued prior to PRF receipt of the POEL owner application form. The owner will be responsible for paying the remaining 50% to the REC, as part of a private arrangement between them.

·  If an urgent defect notice has been issued after PRF receipt of the POEL owner application form, the POEL owner will be eligible for 100% of the funding.

Exclusions

The funding is limited to undergrounding or insulating the POEL to meet the requirements of reducing the risk of bare wire lines starting bushfires and does not extend to any augmentation works.

The following will not be met by Government and are the POEL owner’s responsibility

·  Engagements for electrical works which the POEL owner made prior to submitting an application for POEL underground funding

·  Remediation of issues which existed prior to the invitation to apply being issued

·  Replacement of a POEL that is fully insulated

·  Relocation underground of other utilities (e.g. telephone, data etc.).

·  Ongoing operation, maintenance and any future capital works or improvements (including replacement of the powerline)

·  Any augmentation works

·  Costs charged by a REC in excess of the value of the grant, not authorised by the department or otherwise specified in the Voucher.

Other works required by the POEL owner to remedy non-compliance with existing regulatory requirements that are necessary to enable the proper undergrounding, insulation or initial operation of the POEL, the PRF project may determine whether such works will fall within the scope of the grant in its absolute discretion.

Scope of works

The REC must manage and quote on all activities associated with the undergrounding works (including those being performed by third parties) including:

·  Pit installation and truck appointments with the power companies (there may be no costs associated with this due to the POEL being in a high fire risk area; however this would need to be checked)

·  Trenching and cabling;

·  Removal of poles and all waste material (including rocks); and

·  Site remediation to ensure that the property is undamaged and is, as far as practicable, in the same state it was prior to the works being carried out

REC not registered

The REC must be registered for the program before their quote/s can be considered. The assessment team will, if able to, attempt to contact the RECs who fall into this category, however after a period of time (typically 5 working days) if no response is received the quote will be assessed as ‘non-compliant’ and their quote will be ineligible for further consideration.

Variations

The department may vary the amount of the voucher when the REC can evidence unforseen risk, such as striking large rocks. The REC must notify the department as soon as possible as to the revised cost and provide evidence, typically a photo. This is often followed by a site visit by department staff.

Augmentation Works

The scope of the grant does not extend to any augmentation works and will be a ‘like for like’ replacement of the owners current assets. Augmentation works is taken to mean the following:

·  An increase in power rating (amps), capacity or capability

·  Increase in the number of service points (connecting a new structure)

·  A longer cable run

With regards to the final point the department recognises that a longer underground cable run than the existing overhead service cable may in some instances be required. In these cases the REC should indicate why the overhead route or most direct route is not being taken. This would typically be due to something in the way that cannot be removed or tampered with. This includes, but is not limited, to the following:

·  Buildings, houses or sheds

·  Dam or water course

·  Concrete or other established pathways / driveways

·  Animal / pet enclosures

·  Extensive rock. It may well be cheaper to avoid a rocky patch as opposed to going through it

·  Existing underground gas, water, sewage or telecommunication cables / pipes

The department will assess these at its absolute discretion. The POEL owner will be liable for any works that are deemed to be an augmentation above and beyond that of their existing service capability.

Assessment methodology description

The department will assess applications based on the following;

·  Quality and completeness of the quote. Does it contain the required information for assessment, such as length of overhead being retired, amperage and voltage drop, drawings of the existing and new route?

·  Technical specification. Is the voltage drop and cable diameter acceptable? There should be no over or under specification of capacity compared to their existing service.

·  Cost

·  Previous experience with the REC. Has the REC previously done works under the program, and was it completed in a timely manner and with the appropriate quality?

The department requires the POEL owner to seek a minimum of 2 quotes to commence assessment of the funding application.

Quality and completeness

The department requires a standard set of information in order to fairly compare the different quotes. This information includes;

·  Overhead line length being retired

·  New underground line length being installed

·  Phase, amperage, cable diameter and voltage drop of the new powerline

·  The removal of existing cables and poles

·  Drawings of the existing and proposed new route

·  POEL address

RECs are encouraged to use the REC quote template.

The assessment team may, if able to, attempt to contact the RECs who do not provide the full information. However if no response is received after a reasonable period of time (typically 5 working days), the quote will be assessed based on this limited information and will generally not be successful.

RECs are strongly urged to ensure they confirm the capacity of the transformer that the new service is to be attached to (through the service line), even if the capacity remains the same. This is because the addition of protection mechanisms may create issues if the transformer is currently overloaded. The REC is responsible for rectifying any capacity issues where they do not confirm transformer capacity.

Should a REC find that a transformer upgrade is necessary, their quote should identify and include that cost. PRF staff will further investigate and determine what if any government funding will be provided for that purpose. A contribution from the customer may be requested.

The department requires that all poles, cabling, cross-arms, rocks and other waste be dismantled and removed from site. If there is an agreement with the POEL owner to the contrary this will need to be clearly stated in the quote. Unless otherwise informed, the department will assume that all waste will be removed by the REC. Under no circumstances are POEL owners to be permitted to cut down their own poles as part of a quote from an REC.

Technical specification

Whist there should be no upgrade to the powerlines, conversely the owner should not experience a reduction in power rating or capacity.

The critical parameters are the cable diameter, amperage and voltage drop (VD).

Note that ANZ3000 (the Wiring Rules) state that the VD in an electrical installation should not exceed 5%. For this reason, the department prefers to see VDs of 2.5% or lower from point of supply to the main switch board (MSB). This makes allowance for further voltage drops beyond the MSB.

Any VD of 3.5% or higher will require justification from the REC. Failure to do so may result in a non-compliant quote.

As part of the assessment the department would need to be satisfied that the proposed VD does not negatively impact on the owners current energy requirements.

Previous experience with the REC

Consideration will be given to the department’s previous experience with the REC under the PRF program. Considerations include;

·  Was the works completed in a timely manner?

·  Was the works completed satisfactorily and in line with the works specified in the voucher?

·  Professionalism and reliability

Site visits

The department or its authorised representative may, at its absolute discretion, visit to verity the reasonableness of the recommended quotation (and / or any variation) before or after approving commencement of works and that the POEL owner will reasonably allow such inspection access.

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