In accordance with commitments made to the community, Western Power is in the process of developing a new community engagement model for the Powering Perth's Communities (PPC) Phase II project. As part of this process we are seeking to better understand community concerns about the engagement processes undertaken for the PPC project and its predecessor Eastern Terminal through this information gathering process. We would also like to know the level of involvement in our projects that you, as a community member, would like to have. This feedback will be taken into consideration in the development of the engagement model.
Please click on the link below to answer the interview questions online. If you have any queries or concerns about answering the questions, please contact the PPC team on 08 9326 4007 or email ppc@westernpower.com.au.
Also come along to our community session to tell us about your experiences with the previous engagement process. The purpose of this session will be to listen to the community views and concerns; there will be no new project information to share at this session.
Please RSVP on the following number to allow for catering and seating requirements: free call 1800 012 498.
As part of the fresh start to the Powering Perth’s Communities (PPC) project, Western Power made the commitment to engage on the engagement model for Phase II of the project. The outcome we are seeking from Phase II is the identification of a connection point for the existing 330 kV network into a new or existing switchyard, which could be located at a number of geographical locations within the SWIS.
The first step in Phase II of the project is to identify a preferred community engagement model. We are committed to ensuring the community is satisfied with their understanding and involvement in the decision making processes.
In August and September we held seven community outreach sessions along the Perth eastern metropolitan corridor. These were held in strategic locations that are earmarked for significant development in the future. The sessions were as follows:
The purpose of the sessions was to help the community understand our decision making processes and all the factors that need to be considered when planning for future electricity growth.
As part of our regular review of load projections and forecast planning, we are required to review all projects and to prioritise projects that will ensure the reliability and security of our network. Our plans always need to be flexible as changes to usage patterns, connection needs and forecasts mean that we often need to delay, advance or alter projects to meet the identified needs at any given time. In addition to this we must also demonstrate to our regulator, the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) and the State Government, that we are building new and maintaining existing infrastructure within our approved budget.
Our new Access Arrangement with the ERA has been conditionally approved; however one of the impacts has been a reduction in the capital expenditure budget. As such, many of our project timelines are being reviewed, including Powering Perth’s Communities (PPC) Phase II, which involves identifying a switchyard solution. While this project will still be required in the future, the aim of the project is to achieve the best balance of outcomes for the Perth community, the environment, the technical requirements and the most efficient use of state funds. If you would like further information please visit the ERA website.
The next stage is to conduct a series of interviews with people who were involved with PPC Phase I and its predecessor, the Eastern Terminal Project. A number of stakeholders have been identified as potential interviewees either because they made an individual submission in response to the ‘Eastern Terminal Switchyard Site Selection Process Paper ‘ compiled by consultants ERM or were involved in the PPC Phase I focus group workshop in November 2008. The purpose of the interviews is to give residents the opportunity to feed their knowledge directly into the engagement process and help us learn from our past mistakes. We hope that community members will feel their concerns and frustrations have been genuinely listened to and acknowledged.
Unfortunately we are unable to offer everyone in the community the opportunity to be interviewed in person however we still want to hear from you. We will be posting the interview questions on the website in January and ask that you complete them and send them to us. We also encourage you to get involved with community discussion through our blog site.
In addition we will be running a community session on Thursday 11 February that will allow the greater community to attend and to express their thoughts on the project and previous engagement processes. The purpose of this session will be once again to listen to the community views and concerns; there will be no new project information to share at this session. Actively listening to the community is an important information gathering process that will benefit how we move forward with our engagement process and strengthen our ties with the community.
After the meetings and community session, we will be transcribing (unedited) all the comments and will post a report on our website. The next stage after this will be working collaboratively with the community to identify an appropriate engagement model for Phase II as we move towards identifying a switchyard solution.
Page update on 25 January 2010
