Western Power is investing $3 million as part of a package of works in the Shires of Pingelly and Cuballing to improve power reliability and the safety of the network.
The work is taking place in two stages, with the first completed in early April, and stage two planned to be completed before the end of this year.
Western Power Acting Executive Manager of Asset Operations Zane Christmas said the works were aimed at upgrading network assets to maintain a high level of network safety and reliability while improving resilience to major weather events.
“We’re committed to improving reliability of power for regional communities like those in Pingelly and Cuballing, and that’s reflected in this substantial investment in infrastructure,” Mr Christmas said.
Work by Western Power crews will include replacing 230 poles, 27km of overhead lines, along with other maintenance activities between Cuballing and Popanyinning. The team will then move north to complete works at the Pingelly townsite.
“We worked with the community and stakeholders, including the Shires of Cuballing and Pingelly, prior to commencing this work,” he said.
As part of the first stage of works, residents in Pingelly, Popanyinning, Yornarning, Cuballing and Brookton experienced outages, and a generator was sent to Pingelly to support the community.
“We understand planned works can cause some short-term inconvenience, but we expect these upgrades to bring long-term improvements to power supply to the town,” he said.
“Our crews always work as safely and efficiently as possible to minimise any interruptions.”