Melbourne electorate
Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (14:49): (296) My question is to the Minister for Energy and Resources. I was recently contacted by Jan, a constituent of mine in North Melbourne, who wants to get her apartment off gas. Getting off gas in their apartment block, however, requires upgrading their outdated electrical substation so they can source more electricity. The current system is so poor, people cannot even install new reverse-cycle air conditioners, but their local distributor Powercor wants to charge $4040 just to investigate the matter and advise on whether they can provide extra power and upgrade the substation. If Powercor says the work cannot proceed due to lack of capacity, Jan does not get that fee back. So I would like to ask the minister: what is the government doing to ensure that apartments like Jan’s can get off gas and become electrified and to stop companies like Powercor charging these exorbitant fees to do so?