Annual Report 2025
Western Power Annual Report
Published 09.2025
Contents About Western Power Western Power in FY25
Enhancing electricity system flexibility, resilience, and efficiency Advancing grid flexibility and resilience
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6 8 9
33 33 33 33 33 33
Enabling resilient communities
Corporate Social Responsibility Statement
Community engagement
Our Vision and Values
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Performance and future outlook Building a sustainable energy future
Chair message CEO message
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Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern electricity services for all Community batteries: enhancing grid stability
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Western Power Strategy
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and renewable integration Our stories: • More community batteries
Strategy 2023-2031
Our strategic priorities 2023-2031
34 35 35 35 38 39 40 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Priority overview
Attract and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce Ensuring an equitable energy transition and upholding Human Rights Climate risk management Climate risk and resilience: building a sustainable energy future Our stories: • Enabling major customer decarbonisation • Connecting Cunderdin Solar and Collie BESS
Key performance measures – full year FY25
Capex investment
Our stories: • Streamlining our distribution customer
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connections Safety and Environment
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Safe and Caring Maturing Safety
22 22 23 23 23 24 25 26 27 29 30
Fauna protection measures
Transforming our network
Nestbox installations
Our stories: • Pathway to Distribution System Operator
Vegetation – enabling public submissions via website Our stories: • Helicopter siliconing for reliability • Drones boost maintenance efficiency • Summer and bushfire preparedness
• Project Jupiter and Symphony
• Undergrounding
• Stand-alone Power Systems • Network upgrade investments • Mid West reliability works
• Emergency response Corporate Sustainability
• Regional Connect
• Kalgoorlie and Boulder network update
Our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Decarbonising electricity generation to limit global warming to 1.5°C Clean Energy Link – North: Advancing renewable integration, collaborative efforts and future investments Our stories: • WA’s clean energy future: vital Clean Energy Link transmission upgrades
Our People
51
31
People Strategy and Our Values Employee Engagement Survey
52 53 53 53 54 54
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Streamlining our systems
Celebrating Excellence: LiveWires Awards Supporting employees across all life stages
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Highlights
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Our stories: • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Our stories: • Network for life campaign
55 58 59 60
66 68 70 83
• Reconciliation Action Plan Refresh • Noongar Six Seasons Garden
Financial report Directors’ report
In the community
Corporate governance disclosure
Project and works engagement
61 61 61
Financial statements Directors’ declaration Corporate directory
84 133 134 135
Planned works
Extended Outage Payment Scheme (EOPS) Local Government engagement Community and land access Transmission expansion and scoping
62 62 63 63 64 65
Independent auditor’s report
Regional Connect
Bushfire Volunteers Grants Program Major engagements in 2024/2025
Printed by Advance Press in Perth, Western Australia on ecoStar+ paper. ecoStar+ is an environmentally responsible paper made carbon neutral and is FSC ® Recycled certified. ecoStar+ is manufactured from 100% post-consumer recycled fibre in a process chlorine free environment under the ISO 14001 environmental management system.
Western Power acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we operate, and we recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters, and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past, present and emerging. Artwork below: ‘Boordakan’ by Buffie Punch. Electricity Networks Corporation trading as Western Power | ABN 18 540 492 861 | 363 Wellington Street, Perth WA 6000 | GPO Box L921 Perth WA 6842 General enquiries 13 10 87 | TTY 1800 13 13 51 TIS 13 14 50 | westernpower.com.au
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Western Power Annual Report 2025
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About Western Power
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Western Power Annual Report 2025
In medium density locations, a hybrid network of mostly overhead assets complemented by new technologies like stand-alone power systems (SPS); and in less dense regional locations, an autonomous network of remote power systems with more SPS units and microgrids. We’re committed to delivering safe, reliable, affordable and increasingly renewable electricity supply to the community and industry. Our strategy sets out our vision, plan and the steps we need to take to get there. Western Power is owned by the State Government of Western Australia and is governed by an independent Board of non-executive directors. The Board of Western Power is committed to a high level of corporate governance and fostering a culture that values safety, ethical behaviour, integrity, diversity and respect. Western Power’s key governance principles and practices are reviewed regularly and revised as appropriate to reflect changes in law and industry best practice. The Minister for Energy represents our State Government owner. Our financial and service performance is overseen by the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) through an Access Arrangement made under the Electricity Networks Access Code 2004 (WA), which ensures a fair, competitive and efficient environment for consumers and businesses. The Access Arrangement sets service performance targets and how much we can charge to allow access to the network.
Our safety performance is regulated by the Building and Energy Division of the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. The energy sector is experiencing an exciting once-in-a generation opportunity that is fundamentally shifting where and how we create, use and store electricity around our network. Working towards decarbonisation goals through enhancing and expanding the transmission network will make up a large part of our work during the next decade and beyond. We will service many new customers and enable greater connection of renewable generators as Western Australia’s economy moves away from fossil fuel generated electricity and continues the transition to lower emission technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs), batteries and rooftop solar. At the same time we will continue to maintain our vast network for continued reliability and safety levels by transforming our distribution network into a modular grid that responds to the specific needs of each locality. This will see our distribution network progressively transitioned into three zones, including: in high density urban locations, a tightly meshed network with increasing underground assets. Our vision is to work together to power a cleaner energy future for the customers and communities covered by our network area. Western Power is responsible for delivering an essential service to the community. We build, maintain and operate the transmission and distribution electricity networks in the Perth metropolitan and across more than 255,000km 2 from Kalbarri in the north, to Albany and Bremer Bay in the south, and out to Kalgoorlie in the east.
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Western Power in FY25
40% total energy generation from renewables
85.1% new record for renewables powering the SWIS on 17 November 2024
12.81GW of connection-ready major projects in the pipeline
880MW major renewable technology projects connected this year
10,000 housing subdivision lots energised
$1.2 billion Clean Energy Link – North investment to date
16 community batteries now operational
34 fauna nesting boxes now installed
321 Stand-alone Power Systems operational
99.2% reliability on network
40% of all residential homes have solar
70% of Perth metro network now underground
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Corporate Social Responsibility Statement
Western Power is committed to pursuing sustainable outcomes across the business through our corporate policies. We’ve aligned our sustainability efforts with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework, underpinned by overarching objectives for our business that include: • establishing a world-class health, safety and environmental management system that benefits our employees, customers and the broader community • embracing a diverse and inclusive culture across our business so people feel supported to be themselves at work
• fostering stronger partnerships with community organisations • embracing the use of new technologies and innovation which not only improves the services to customers but also supports the decarbonisation of our communities • ensuring our business operations and our suppliers positively contribute to the communities and value chains in which they operate • enabling the decarbonisation of energy in the South West of WA to support a cleaner energy future by enhancing and expanding the transmission network through planning and partnering with our stakeholders and community.
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Our Vision and Values Our Vision Working together to power a cleaner energy future. We always work safely because we care. We all take responsibility for protecting our people, our community and the environment. We assess and manage risk – if it’s not safe we don’t do it. Results focused We focus on the end goal. We spend our time and money wisely. We set challenging goals, work hard and hold ourselves accountable to deliver for our customers. Acting with integrity We exercise good judgment. We do the right thing. We build trusted relationships by being open and honest. Working together We’re one team with a shared purpose. We collaborate with our colleagues, our customers and the community to get the job done. We consider the impact of our work on others. Always improving Our Values Safe and caring We’re always looking for ways to be better, no matter how big or small. We innovate to solve problems and seize opportunities. We are resilient and embrace change.
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Chair message
The distribution network, like the transmission network, continues to be upgraded with around 70 per cent of the Perth metro network now underground, more advanced metering infrastructure installed and roll-out of Stand-alone Power Systems for edge of grid or remote customers continuing – all providing an improved reliability experience for customers. We are a national leader in the rollout of innovative technologies such as SPS with more than 320 SPS now installed on the network. Along with 16 community batteries and the recent launch of the combined State and Federal residential battery scheme the network is transitioning well. Reliability continues to be a key focus and has complex challenges amid climate change impacts and extreme weather events. The network continues to maintain a reliability at 99.92% even with these factors. These innovative and positive changes are centred around delivering on our commitment to the community, and the business has been agile and efficient in streamlining operations to deliver better outcomes. In the past year we have delivered better processes for connecting small and large-scale customers in alignment with community benefit priorities including working with Government to accelerate housing supply. Like many organisations we continue to face competition for the people and equipment needed to continue to work at pace, and we’ve instigated measures to mitigate this where possible like securing long lead items and undertaking comprehensive recruitment locally and internationally. At a Board level, governance and strategy guides the fantastic work which has been done by the business. Our role is to facilitate and support the business while maintaining prudence as a Government Trading Enterprise. Western Power has certainly achieved a great deal by being agile and effective as it continues to rise to meet the challenges of affordability, technology, and climate change. Underpinning all of this is of course safety. The expertise and dedication of our employees is to be commended, and on behalf of my fellow board members I thank them. I’d also acknowledge and thank the Board members – including the work of outgoing director Eva Skira AM, the Executive, and the senior leadership team for their collaboration in leading the strategic direction of the organisation. It’s been extremely rewarding being part of what will be a once-in-a-generation change in WA’s energy journey. Denise Goldsworthy Chair
In the past three years as Western Power’s Board Chair, I’ve seen some incredible growth and achievements across the business as it has worked to deliver a once-in-a-generation transformation of the network, critical for a clean energy future for the community. This past financial year has seen much of the initial foundations set now bearing fruit with significant in-roads being made. In 2018 when I began at Western Power as a director, the business was just starting to explore how renewable energy could be further unlocked in the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). Now we’re seeing this become a reality with our Clean Energy Link – North project underway, enabling 1GW of renewable energy to be connected to the network, equivalent to powering around 500,000 WA homes. Along with this comes economic stimulus and projected employment of 400 jobs. We’ve also seen the continued rapid rise of rooftop solar and the increasing integration of distributed energy resources (DER). Around 40% of all residential houses now have rooftop solar with about 30,000 new systems installed each year. The integration of customer owned DER has moved in leaps and bounds with the establishment, completion and proof-points of Project Symphony illustrating that Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) can operate at scale and create value for the community and the network. We now embark on Project Jupiter to embed VPPs as part of our standard practices, unlocking greater benefits for customers from their own DER. In November last year renewables powered 85.1% of the grid, a significant milestone on the journey to net-zero. This was achieved through continued collaboration with industry and Government to connect more renewable sources to the distribution network as well as large-scale generation with around 880MW of new renewable generation connected to the network in the past financial year.
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CEO message
At the distribution level, customer investment in rooftop solar and batteries continues to grow. On 17 November, renewables supplied a record 85.1% of energy in the SWIS, driven in large part by customer-owned resources. With Government support for residential batteries, this trend is set to accelerate. We have continued to progress the network and policy changes required to ensure the network can continue to safely accommodate the expanding number and size of these distributed resources. Together with Synergy, AEMO and Energy Policy WA, we’ve demonstrated through Project Symphony that these distributed energy resources can operate as virtual power plants – delivering financial value to customers and supporting system reliability. Under the next phase of this work, titled Project Jupiter, we’re now working to scale these capabilities, enabling customers to gain greater value from their DER assets. Housing development remains a key focus. We’ve worked closely with Government to accelerate network connections for residential and land developments, energising around 10,000 subdivision lots this year – 2300 more than last year – and significantly reducing connection timeframes in several key areas. Resilience and reliability are central to our mission. We are redesigning our network to meet the growing challenges from climate change. In the Perth metropolitan area, we undergrounded power for 4000 more residential customers and initiated several new undergrounding projects. In regional areas, we expanded our Stand-alone Power Systems (SPS) program, now operating 321 SPS units to improve safety and reliability for customers at the end of long feeder lines. In addition to these network changes, we continue to innovate to improve the performance of the network. From drone inspections and helicopter-applied silicone to upgraded components and advanced forecasting, we’re enhancing our emergency response and protecting communities from the impacts of extreme weather, pole top fire and bushfire risks. Safety remains our highest priority - if it’s not safe, we don’t do it. This year, we introduced a new Critical Risk Management framework and a Mental Health Strategy to ensure every member of our workforce returns home safe, every day.
It has been another remarkable year for Western Power, defined by bold progress, strategic transformation, and a steadfast commitment to the people of Western Australia. This past financial year, we laid the foundations for the most significant transmission network expansion in Western Australia in decades – critical to supporting the State’s decarbonisation journey. In FY25 alone, we connected 880MW of renewable technology, including 100MW of large-scale solar and 780MW of battery energy storage. We also issued access offers for 759MW, accelerating the integration of clean energy into the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). Further transmission network upgrades are essential to enabling more renewable generators on the network to support the journey to ‘net zero’. The next phase in this journey is underway. This year we signed major contracts for Clean Energy Link – North, which will unlock 1GW of renewable energy from the Mid-West region and deliver it to where the community and industry need it. To meet the scale of the energy transition, we’ve focused on building workforce capacity and strengthening supply chains. Our efforts are generating job growth and supporting emerging industries, contributing to the long-term prosperity of our communities. We’ve also improved how we connect customers to the network. Following our Major Customer Connection Process (MCCP) review in 2022, access offer timeframes have reduced from 42 months to 18-24 months. This streamlined process is helping large generators and industrial customers connect faster and more efficiently.
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Our momentum as we move into the new energy future is underpinned by the commitment of our employees and contractors. I thank them for their ongoing dedication and service. Their work powers our progress and ensures we continue to deliver for our customers, industry and community. Sam Barbaro Chief Executive Officer Western Power
We are incredibly fortunate to have a supportive and knowledgeable Board, and I thank them for their strategic guidance and support under the leadership of Chair Denise Goldsworthy. I’d like to thank departing Director Eva Skira AM for her invaluable mentorship and the substantial impact she had on the strategic direction of our business. I’d also like to acknowledge our former Minister Hon. Reece Whitby MLA, whose support of our role in the energy transition has been invaluable, and welcome our new Minister for Energy, Hon Amber-Jade Sanderson MLA who has already demonstrated a strong commitment to improving service to the customers we serve.
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Western Power Strategy
Our 2023-2031 strategy continues to outline our guiding principles, reflecting the opportunities and challenges the once-in-a-generation energy transition presents, while reiterating our commitment to safely provide reliable supply, keep costs low and enable decarbonisation for our community. As we enter the third year of the strategy, we have made substantial progress on the core goals, while remaining flexible to adjust to the needs of our customers and the rapidly changing external environment.
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Strategy 2023-2031 Working together to power a cleaner energy future
We need to safely provide reliable supply , keep costs low and enable decarbonisation for our community
Our priorities
People and safety
Transmission network growth
Distribution transformation
Reliable supply and efficient customer service
Business and financial sustainability
Our values
Results focused
Acting with integrity
Working together
Always improving
Safe and caring
Our strategic priorities 2023-2031
People and safety Look after and develop our people Ensure all of our people feel safe at work, perform work safely and go home feeling well Improve our connection and engagement with our people Develop our workforce to deliver a decarbonised future
Reliable supply and efficient customer service Deliver reliable supply and efficient services to the community Improve customer reliability felt experience
Improve customer request response and communication Partner proactively with customers to develop flexible electrification solutions Engage stakeholders and customers on growth plans
Attract and retain critical capabilities Empower our people to make decisions
Transmission network growth Grow the transmission network to enable decarbonisation Establish transmission portfolio and delivery capability Foster partnerships to deliver our expansion and contribute to growth in WA Deliver transmission expansion to service renewable generation and industrial decarbonisation Accelerate and simplify major connection process
Distribution transformation Maintain and transform the distribution network Support the growth of distributed energy resources and maximise the opportunity they present Deliver a climate resilient network Manage peaks and troughs of consumption on the network Improve focus on regional outcomes
Business and financial sustainability Maintain business and financial sustainability for the future Incorporate sustainability into the way we work Deliver on revenue and expenditure objectives Determine and implement funding for transmission growth Engage and advocate with stakeholders to maintain social license
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Priority overview People and safety
Transmission network growth
In supporting national and state decarbonisation objectives, substantial expansion of the transmission network continues to gain momentum. With a total of $1.2B accessible to date from State Government to support transmission network expansion as part of Clean Energy Link – North, and strong support from industry proponents, progress required remains clear. Picture of success: Supporting Western Australia to become a green energy powerhouse and support ‘Made in WA’ by enabling households and industry to decarbonise. Example of progress made: • Signing of key contracts with GenusPlus and UGL to deliver on key aspects of CEL-North. • In FY25 we connected 880 MW of renewable technology including 100MW large-scale solar, 780MW of storage and issued access offers for 759MW. Example of next steps: • Commence build out of CEL-North infrastructure • Community engagement activity • Continued planning for CEL-East • Update of policy frameworks to embed the Critical Project Framework into connections policy.
Success in our strategy is impossible without our people. Core to our strategy is an unwavering focus on ensuring we keep our people safe. As we continue delivering on the transformative activities to successfully achieve the energy transition, ensuring our people go home safely everyday will remain an utmost objective. Picture of success: Everyone is able to go home safely and without injury everyday. Example of progress made and next steps: Delivery and ongoing operationalisation of the Critical Risk Management Framework and Mental Health Strategy, providing the framework for best-practice risk and safety management.
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Reliable supply and efficient customer service
Business and financial sustainability
In light of growing energy demand, increasing frequency and intensity of climate events and an aging network, our strategy highlights the importance of maintaining reliable energy supply and paying close attention to customer felt experience. Delivery of our strategy in this space will involve projects to improve energy reliability of the regions through innovative assets – such as Stand-alone Power Systems (SPS), microgrids and regional reliability pilots in consultation with local communities. This focus also extends to the metropolitan region, particularly around undergrounding our existing poles and wires. Picture of success: Through the energy transition we will work so that customers have reliable access to electricity, maintaining the high standards we already have. Example of progress made: • Achieved delivery of 321 SPS since program inception • 4000 additional customers undergrounded in FY25 • Delivery and go-live of the Lancelin High Voltage Injection Unit (HVIU) to strengthen local reliability, delivered as part of the $88m funding provided to Western Power to address regional reliability. Example of next steps: Delivery of additional regional reliability projects.
Through this transition, we commit to being a financially responsible and sustainable business. Our strategy emphasises a need to be prudent and efficient in the delivery of work with taxpayer funding, while also supporting broader community, jobs, cyber, environmental and sustainability objectives. Picture of success: Supporting the energy transition in a financially, environmentally and socially sustainable way. Example of progress made and next steps: We continue to deliver our work with these goals top-of-mind across all functions.
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Distribution transformation – DER With continued rapid uptake of Distribution Energy Resources (DER) – such as solar PV, Electric Vehicles (EVs) and residential battery energy storage systems (BESS) – the transition to a more complex and dynamic energy system continues. Our strategy reflects our contribution towards this shift by becoming the Distribution System Operator (DSO), which will enable safe uptake and integration of increasing numbers of DER, while providing substantial benefit to our network and customers. Picture of success: For both customer and network value to be extracted – harnessing the utility of DER. Example of progress made: • Commencement of Project Jupiter. Example of next steps: • Delivery of Project Jupiter, the successor to Project Symphony – that will enhance and enable DSO capabilities to mature towards its ideal state.
Distribution transformation – housing Our organisation has adjusted to rapidly respond to the need for additional housing development in WA. As critical infrastructure providers, significant strategic focus over the coming years will involve coordinating and building necessary energy infrastructure in priority housing growth areas, while continuing to support timely connections on our distribution network. Picture of success: Government housing priorities supported in a timely manner – supporting financially accessible and readily available housing for a growing population. Example of next steps: • Supporting network expansion and customer connections in priority housing growth areas.
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Key performance measures – full year FY25 Government goal
Measure
Actual
Target
People and safety
Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate
8.1
<8.2
Employee Engagement
69% 40%
>76% >38%
Distribution transformation
Percentage of renewables on the Grid
Reliable supply and efficient customer service Business and financial sustainability
Network Availability
99.92%
>99.90%
Return on Regulated Asset Base
5.28%
>5.07%
Capex investment
Reliability and other targeted investments: $126.9M
Information technology: $111.1M
Renewing the network: $669.2M
Meeting growth in demand: $289.4M
Connecting customers: $185.0M
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Streamlining our distribution customer connections Our stories We’ve continued our efforts to reduce connection timeframes and enhance customer service during FY25. and increased design capacity through three more external design vendors, in addition to the four currently on our panel.
Online portal MyWP Projects was enhanced with new tools to enable customers to view project timelines and status updates, share projects with other users, submit and track enquiries. For larger organisations with multiple projects in-train, the portal now allows them to view their entire project portfolio in one convenient location. Additionally, the portal’s new Network Information Tool enables land developers to self-serve and obtain network information to inform their electrical designs. We’re continuing to drive improvement on time-to-connect and customer experience in the coming year.
In May, a new organisational design was introduced that included dedicated teams for the residential and commercial design portfolios, and a strengthened customer management area. The new structure provides clear accountability to help reduce customer connection times, manage customer expectations and meet government priorities in areas such as housing development. Other improvement initiatives based on the findings are underway targeting areas such as application processes, management of ‘on hold’ applications, quality assurance and others. Construction capacity increased during the year by expanding the scope for external contractors to include their entire scope of works (civil and electrical) in their application,
Significant achievements for the year include:
Energising around 10,000 subdivision lots.
I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to you and your team for the swift and efficient power upgrade to our site. Turning this around in such a short timeframe has been outstanding, and we’re excited to have crews operating from the new facility... This is a fantastic outcome for our first responders. Harpreet Kaler
Slashing Design Information Package timeframes from 137 days in FY24 to 25 days in FY25. Reducing Design Conformance Review timeframes from 214 days in FY24 to 112 days in FY25. Introducing a new approach to reduce the time to energise land development projects from 16 to six weeks .
Development Manager Projects & Development St John WA
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Safety and Environment
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Safe and Caring “Safe and Caring” is one of our fundamental values – we actively promote working safely because we deeply care; we are taking responsibility for protecting our people, our community and the environment. Because we work in a high-risk environment, if its not safe, we don’t do it. Our expectation is that every Western Power employee and contractor has the right to be safe and feel safe when participating in Western Power work. This aspiration is underpinned by an ongoing and unwavering commitment to systems simplification and improvement, the strategies and objectives targeted for the next year will assist in managing our critical risks. Insights and learning from incidents will enable us to improve how we support our workforce to go home safe, well and healthy every day. By embedding values-led leadership and a robust safety management system, we are ensuring Critical Risk Management becomes an integral part of the way we work – so that all our workers live, breathe, and advocate for the success of our fatality Continued from the previous year, we continue to focus and strengthen on maturing our Critical Risk Management program by enhancing the risk management toolkit available to the workforce, psychosocial risk is still front of mind as we build on the foundational elements of this program. In October 2024 Critical Risk Management was our renewed approach to fatality prevention – officially going live as we evolved from the Golden Safety Rules. prevention program. Maturing Safety
This evolution of CRM allows us to manage our critical risks and actively seek opportunities for improvement every day. We also commissioned the People at Work psychological risk assessment survey to assist the business to identify, assess and control risks with a gap analysis exercise, and an opportunity to identify areas of improvement comparing us to industry standards. We continue to tailor our health and wellbeing program to meet the needs of our employees, one recent success was the free flu vaccination program which was utilised by nearly 30 per cent of Western Power employees. In addition, it has been recognised that a greater level of mental health support should be available to those in need. As part of improving our mental health strategy we ran a number of workshops tailored to our people including psychosocial risk identification and mitigation, mental health awareness, how to support your colleagues and preventing burnout. Western Power now has 40 mental health first aiders to guide our employees to appropriate services to support them. Other health and wellbeing programs continue to be promoted across Western Power like R U OK? Day, nutrition workshops, mindfulness and resilience seminars, heat illness and skin cancer awareness. Western Power continues to focus on reducing the highest consequence events whilst equally managing the high frequency events, maintaining a safe and healthy workforce and enabling our leaders to have and drive leader-led safety behaviours.
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Fauna protection measures South West WA has a diverse range of conservation-significant fauna, including the endangered Western Ringtail Possum and three species of Black Cockatoo. In FY25, Western Power installed fauna protection treatments at 50 locations across the network to mitigate risk of inadvertent contact. These treatments include possum guards on poles, bird covers on crossarms, bird diverters on Thirty-four nest boxes of various sizes installed within the last two years around Western Power sites provide additional habitat for native fauna. The nest boxes are part of a monitored program in collaboration with The Re-Cyc-Ology Project. The monitoring – including through cameras installed in some of the boxes – has shown great success with an array of fauna using them including Carnaby cockatoos, Australian shelducks, Australian Ringneck parrots, Brush-tailed phascogales and large brushtail possums. Vegetation – enabling public submissions via website In May 2025, Western Power launched an external website page to receive public submissions in relation to vegetation conductors and cable guard. Nestbox installations clearing and provide transparency on our clearing activities to the public. Providing an accessible platform enables us to publish proposed clearing associated with project activities, invite public feedback and report under the terms of clearing permits. To access environmental reports including annual audit reports, annual clearing reports and details on project clearing undertaken by Western Power go to the Environmental reports section of the Western Power website.
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Helicopter siliconing for reliability Our stories
Our network infrastructure traverses significant distances and diverse landscapes, and needs to handle changeable weather and atmospheric conditions. One of the elements of our network we’re addressing is the incidence of pole-top fires. In the regions, we’re doing so through clever, aerial innovation. During the summer months, pollution, dust from farming operations, or sea salt in coastal areas can build up on insulators at the top of power poles. If there has not been significant rain in recent times, misty damp conditions or light drizzle can result in what’s known as ‘tracking’, where water droplets can create an electrical current between the insulator and a pole.
In some cases, this can cause a fire at the top of a pole. Preventing these is a key part of Western Power’s asset management strategy. This year we deployed helicopters to allow for live line washing and protective silicone application to prevent dust-build up on insulators across the Wheatbelt and Great Southern.
More than 22,000 poles have been treated via washing or siliconing this year.
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Drones boost maintenance efficiency Our stories Western Power is continuing to explore new aerial
We’re also trialing the use of drones to complete LiDAR mapping of powerlines and digitisation of network assets like substations. These applications would further increase safety, network security and enable crews to make decisions faster when unplanned outages occur. The final trial underway uses drones to install attachments (known as tiger tails) to power lines to deter wildlife and increase visibility. This reduces the chance of wildlife, farm equipment or other vehicles accidentally impacting network infrastructure and the potential for related unplanned outages. Investigations into whether drones could be used for other purposes, including to monitor site security or install sensors that can monitor the real-time capacity of overhead power transmission lines, are also underway. These applications are really exciting and will further help to increase the resilience of our network, enhance operational efficiency and safety, and improve the felt experience for the community.
technologies and techniques to assist in the delivery of our $1 billion annual comprehensive asset renewal and maintenance program to ensure the continued delivery of a safe, resilient network. Drone technology is increasingly becoming a crucial part of our operations at Western Power optimising the way we work and improving the power experience for our customers. We have 68 licenced remote pilots and a fleet of 30 base aircraft with access to other specialised drones. We’re currently using drones to assist in critical tasks that enhance network resilience and maintain network reliability including 2D, 3D and LiDAR mapping, asset inspections, patrols, stringing power lines and locating faults. Using drones to patrol our network is particularly useful during the summer months where there is an increase in unplanned power outages. Western Power’s network is among the largest in Australia, and one of the world’s largest island grids, with several rural distribution feeders that are more than 100kms in length and pass through areas of bushfire risk. Crews are able to use drones to conduct line patrols and identify faults more efficiently than vehicle or foot patrols, reducing the duration of unplanned power outages and managing bushfire risk. Through a series of new trials, we’re exploring other innovative applications of drones including whether they can be used to: • remotely apply silicone to live insulators to reduce the risk of pole top fires; • map powerlines to accelerate decision making; and • install attachments to powerlines to deter wildlife and increase visibility. If implemented, drones could be used to treat insulators in areas of the network where helicopters or elevated work platforms can’t access.
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Our stories Summer and bushfire preparedness Every year before summer, Western Power
These measures build resilience and help reduce the risk of faults on the network. In the event of weather-induced faults, Western Power has resources available to respond, including having emergency generators on standby. While 100% reliability cannot be guaranteed, we’re finding new ways to minimise outages by bolstering the network where possible to maintain our 99.92 per cent reliability record.
embarks on a comprehensive package of works to ensure the network is prepared for summer, and implements bushfire prevention and general emergency readiness actions. Western Power undertakes extensive bushfire mitigation work and has detailed plans in place. Each spring, a bushfire preparedness team completes a pre-summer program of work across the network including vegetation management, condition-based asset maintenance, implementing auto reclose minimisation (automatically closes a breaker after it has been opened due to a fault) and operational procedures with the aim of reducing asset-initiated bushfire risk. While this is an annual process, we’re working to innovate in the preparedness space. Western Power continually works to improve network resilience with about $1 billion invested annually in network upgrades and maintenance to manage safety, reliability, and environmental risks. This includes finalising current bushfire mitigation work, ongoing maintenance programs and investing in network infrastructure upgrades such as insulator replacements, managing trees and vegetation, and washing and applying silicone to insulators via helicopter.
The top 10 highest demand days have all occurred in the past two years 4,600 4,500 4,400 4,300 4,200 4,100 4196MW 4094MW 4233MW 4170MW 4189MW 4161MW 4482MW
4080MW 4104MW 4071MW
4,000 3,900 3,800 01/02/24 15/02/24 18/02/24 19/02/24 20/02/24 11/12/24 20/01/25 29/01/25 30/01/25 06/02/25
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Our stories
Emergency response Western Power always plans far ahead to prepare the network for summer heat, bushfire weather and storm season.
exercises, working closely with the Bureau of Meterology to obtain detailed weather briefings and building our forecasting for unique extreme weather conditions that impact our network (e.g. pole top fire weather). Communicating directly with residential and industrial customers around restoration times, what we are doing in the field and wider emergency communications including leveraging our Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) to contribute to the Emergency WA website has been a focus for this year. We have also worked to revise our targeted communication protocols and messaging to ensure it is fit-for-purpose for our key stakeholders to ensure they can keep customers and businesses informed before, during and after an incident.
Despite this extensive preparatory work, the frequency and severity of significant and often simultaneous emergency events caused by circumstances outside of Western Power’s control is growing, with restoration times often extended due to the sheer number of hazards being caused by extreme weather conditions. Through extensive preparedness activities, forecasting, innovative network augmentation and our dedicated workforce, we’re working hard to ensure the impacts of climate change and resulting extreme weather conditions are mitigated as much as possible. A significant focus for FY25 has been streamlining and building upon our emergency response capabilities, especially our whole-of-business coordination for emergency response. Complex weather conditions and climate change had a significant impact on the network during FY25, with storms, heatwaves and conditions that increased the risk of pole top fires impacting our operations early in the calendar year. Operational crews and our network operations teams had their work cut out for them, with a number of emergency response events occurring in short succession. In just one week in January 2025, Western Power dealt with an extreme heatwave, severe thunderstorms and extreme weather conditions which led to pole top fires affecting power supply. February saw significant storm activity across Perth metropolitan, Perth Hills and the Wheatbelt. In early March, customers experienced interruptions due to pole top fire activity, while later in the month customers in Perth’s north were impacted by a lightning strike to transmission infrastructure. While Western Power crews work as quickly and safely as possible to make hazards safe, repair and restore power, recovery for events like these can be extended. Our organisational capacity to respond to emergency events is growing, adopting cloud-based emergency management solution WebEOC to bring us in line with organisations like WA Police, increasing our inter-agency cooperation and cross-functional training
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I would just like to say a huge thank you to all who managed to fix our power outage... Could have had to wait til 2am but you guys are amazing. Went off around 9.30pm and came back on at 10.49pm and am so grateful for your hard work in getting people their power back on. Especially aircon as it’s a very warm night. Just want you to know you are all very appreciated. Brentwood customer
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Corporate Sustainability
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Our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals Western Power’s Sustainability Strategy is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), using them as a guiding framework to shape our actions and support the Western Australian Government’s Climate Action agenda. We focus on five priority SDGs where our operations can have the most meaningful impact, while remaining mindful of the broader sustainability context: Goal 7 – Affordable and clean energy Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth Goal 10 – Reduced inequalities Goal 12 – Responsible consumption and production Goal 13 – Climate action The electricity sector plays a pivotal role in achieving SDGs 7 and 13. In 2021–22, energy production and supply accounted for about 32.6% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions (CSIRO, 2023).
In response, Western Power is working closely with State Government agencies and industry partners to reduce emissions across the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), focusing on both transmission and distribution infrastructure. We also draw on global best practice frameworks, such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) Electric Utilities SDG Roadmap, to strengthen our contribution to a more sustainable future. As a Government Trading Enterprise (GTE) and essential service provider, Western Power acknowledges its responsibility to drive positive environmental, social and economic outcomes. We are already delivering a range of initiatives that align with the SDGs and deliver tangible benefits for our customers, stakeholders and the broader community. The table below outlines how we have embedded the SDGs across our operations to achieve measurable sustainability and climate outcomes.
Impact opportunity
Priority SDGs to maximise positive impact
Decarbonise electricity generation in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C
Enhance electricity system flexibility, resilience and efficiency
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern electricity services for all
Attract and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce
Leave no-one behind in the energy transition and respect human rights
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Decarbonising electricity generation to limit global warming to 1.5°C
Clean Energy Link – North: Advancing renewable integration, collaborative efforts and future investments A cornerstone of our decarbonisation efforts is the Clean Energy Link – North project. With a State Government investment of $1.2 billion, and in partnership with industry leaders, this initiative aims to upgrade and expand transmission infrastructure in the northern corridor of the SWIS. Beyond the northern corridor, an additional $503 million has been allocated to assess and scope potential Clean Energy Link transmission projects across other regions of the SWIS. This includes planning for new lines and upgrades around key industrial areas such as Kwinana and Collie. These strategic investments are integral to Western Power’s commitment to enabling a cleaner, more sustainable energy system for WA, aligning with our goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. More information on the CEL project progress is available overleaf.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underscores the urgency of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to avert the most severe impacts of climate change. As a pivotal player in the energy sector, Western Power is committed to facilitating this goal by enabling the decarbonisation of electricity generation across WA. Our refreshed strategy aligns with these objectives, focusing on building and operating a network that supports the integration of renewable energy sources. By enhancing our infrastructure, we aim to accommodate the increasing demand for low-carbon electricity and support the state’s transition to a sustainable energy future.
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WA’s clean energy future: vital Clean Energy Link transmission upgrades Our stories
Western Power is delivering the network infrastructure needed to achieve the State Government’s vision for WA as a world-leading clean energy powerhouse. Our transmission lines, and the wind and solar farms they will connect, will form one of the largest infrastructure, technology and construction transformations in WA’s history. The network plays an important role in safely and reliably transferring clean energy to industry, homes and businesses. To support this flow, we’re strengthening the network in Perth’s northern suburbs. This will ensure we can continue to deliver clean power to support WA’s growing industry, as well as the employment and economic benefits they will bring now and in the future. We’re upgrading existing network infrastructure and using existing corridors and easements where possible to minimise community impacts. The first phase of these Clean Energy Link upgrades is underway for parts of the northern network. The $1.2 billion WA Government-funded CEL-North work will significantly increase the flow of energy between Perth and the Mid West region. January 2025 marked a pivotal milestone with the awarding of key contracts to advance this critical work with GenusPlus securing a $270 million contract for the design and construction of two new terminals at Regans Ford and Eneabba, including an associated line, and the augmentation of the existing 330kV Northern and Eneabba terminals. Additionally, UGL was awarded a $48 million contract for the design, supply, installation and commissioning of extensions to the existing Neerabup 132kV and 330kV substations. Construction for these projects commenced in June 2025. Western Power also continues to progress critical network scoping activities required for Clean Energy Link (CEL) East, as outlined in the State Government’s SWIS Transmission Planning Update.
Western Power was provided with funding to progress this early work which is essential for potential transmission investments. We know there are world-class renewable energy resources throughout the state, that industry is keen to harness. CEL – East will connect major renewable generation projects in the region east of Collie. As part of early investigations, we’ve engaged with potential renewable generation projects to understand timings and locations. This technical engagement helps to ensure alignment and minimise potential impact on communities. Our scoping activities have included assessments on land availability, environmental and heritage values, and landowner openness to land transactions. As part of this we undertook spring flora and fauna surveys on private land last year with additional surveys required this year to address data gaps from 2024 and cover new areas identified through collaborative planning with renewable energy proponents. These investments are fundamental to unlocking WA’s renewable energy potential, ensuring the electricity network remains robust and reliable to meet growing energy needs.
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