In the beginning, the State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV) was responsible for the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity over the entire state of Victoria.^*

(Well, *almost* all of it.)

SECV annual report 1972

But then in the 1990s Jeff Kennett carved up the SECV into a web of different generation, transmission and distribution business – ready for privatisation.

The responsibility for the distribution of electricity to individual consumers was split into five geographic regions – CitiPower supplying the Melbourne CBD; United Energy and Jemena the middle suburbs; and Powercor and SP AusNet from outer suburbs of Melbourne and into the Victorian countryside.

Essential Services Commission diagram

But how do you draw the line between the different electricity distribution businesses?

Map from www.energy.vic.gov.au

You follow the power lines.

Based on how the SECV originally structured their distribution network.

Essential Energy diagram

Zone substations convert electricity at 66kV down to 22kV, and you can hide one on a suburban street – there would be about a hundred of them scattered around Melbourne alone.

But zone substations need to be supplied with power, which comes from much larger terminal stations. You can see their massive 220 kV transmission lines from a mile away, so there are only a dozen around Melbourne.

Which leads us back to the “this pole belongs to [power company]” signs…

Turns out some zone substations have 66 kV power lines that pass pass through areas that belong to other distribution companies on their way to the nearest terminal station, so the signs are needed so the two companies know who is responsible for maintaining a given pole.

And another mess

In the Victorian electricity industry the 1990s reforms there is a second market subject “competition” – multiple energy retailers all competing to sell you the exact same electrons to you, but at wildly different prices.

All electricity retailers in Victoria are required to give consumers a “Default Offer” – a fixed price set by the government which is considered to be reasonable to both parties.

Unfortunately there is one part you don’t get a choice in – each of the five energy distributors set their own ‘daily supply charge’ which all retailers have to pass on to you.

As of 2023 people living in the United Energy region only pay $1.0753 per day to have an electricity connection, while those in the Powercor area get slugged $1.3102 per day.

You’d hate to be right on the boundary of two distributors, and living on the side that has to pay more!

As for a real solution?

The other solution would be to ditch this whole charade of “competition” and just nationalise this mess of separated distribution and retail electricity utilities.

When I first tweeted this back in mid-2022 I was hoping we’d eventually see a political party with the guts to do that, and a few months later, one came close – promising to deliver “government ownership of energy generation”.

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Organised by the Tram and Bus division of the Victorian Rail Tram and Bus Union, among the signs held up by protestors was one reading “No more 457 Visas” – which confused me a little since it wasn’t the point of the rally.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has the following to say on the visa:

The Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) allows skilled workers to come to Australia and work for an approved business for up to four years.

You must be sponsored by an approved business. A business can sponsor someone for this visa if they cannot find an Australian citizen or permanent resident to do the skilled work.

Unions have never been happy with the 457 visa program – for many years employers were never required to prove they advertised for a local candidate to fill the position before they turned to imported labour.

As for Yarra Trams, a quick internet search on the company name and “457 visa” turned up a selection of advertisements on job boards in the United Kingdom, such as this one from 2011 looking for a Performance Manager, to be paid $135k to $145k a year.

And this one from 2012 looking for a Business Unit Manager, on a salary of $120k to $130k a year.

And a current one, where they are looking for a Director of Major Projects – $230K is nice money, assuming you are ready to report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of Yarra Trams.

With all of the above advertisements being for upper level management jobs, at least the union should be relieved that Yarra Trams isn’t importing drivers from overseas on 457 visas – yet!

Footnote

The railway system of Great Britain is the oldest in the world, having been established by private companies in the early 19th century, nationalised under the banner of British Rail in 1948, and then broken up again by a Conservative government at the tail end of their grand privatisation experiment.

Today the management structure of railways in Britain is labyrinthine and perplexing – a web of infrastructure owners and regulators, franchisors and train operators, train owners and infrastructure maintenance providers.

If you can see the similarities between Britain and the current management mess that rules Melbourne’s public transport system, should shouldn’t be surprised – Jeff Kennett used Britain as a model when privatising our railways during the late 1990s, and the management ranks here have been full of ex-Brits ever since.

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