Electricity Supply Amendment (Protection of Electricity Works) Bill 2006
Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: On behalf of the Christian Democratic Party I speak to the Electricity Supply Amendment (Protection of Electricity Works) Bill. The object of the bill is to protect the presence, operation and use of pre-existing electricity works. As has been explained by the Hon. Don Harwin, county councils and local government entities initially governed the establishment and maintenance of electricity infrastructure in New South Wales. The process involved in the setting down of this infrastructure was far less complicated than it would be today. Under the local government legislation at the time, councils had the power to undertake works on private land with the consent of the owner without obtaining a formal legal right over the land on which that work was to be undertaken.
Given the essentiality of electricity services, owners of the land were generally very much in agreement with the work being done and any such infrastructure that was intended to be constructed would generally be consented to by the owners. The mutual benefits were evident. Thus, there was no artificial transfer of land to the governing entities, and nor were there are any easements or rights of way legally recognised for the electricity providers at the time. Providing legal protection would have added time and cost to the process of providing new electricity supplies. I remind honourable members that this was before we had privatisation of electricity supply and the establishment of a diverse group of suppliers. It is important to point out, as stated in the second reading speech in the other place, that:
Owner consent to the presence, operation and use of electricity works on private land does not, however, legally bind subsequent purchasers of the property, despite the fact that they may have paid a reduced price for the property.
The bill seeks to pre-empt any litigation that may arise out of this circumstance by disposing of any possibility that landowners may have to seek legal recourse to assert compensation for pre-existing electricity infrastructure on their land. Currently electricity works in New South Wales are owned by three electricity network operators: Country Energy, EnergyAustralia and Integral Energy. The Electricity Supply Act 1995 does not provide any specific protection for the presence, operation and use of electricity works on land not owned by the network operator. Given the obvious widespread nature of pre-existing electricity infrastructure, any litigation that may arise from the position of this infrastructure on private land may detract from the service that network operators provide consumers. Notably, however, it is not clear how much land would potentially be affected by this amendment to electricity legislation. It would be of interest to find out the potential scope of this issue.
The bill amends the Electricity Supply Act 1995 to provide that no legal proceedings may be taken against network operators due to the presence, operation or use of pre-existing electricity works on land not owned by the network operator. Actions in negligence will be exempted from this protection. It is of utmost importance to understand that this protection will only apply to pre-existing electricity works. Any works subsequently erected on the same site to repair, replace, modify or upgrade those works will also be catered for by the legislation. Network operators will be required to obtain formal easements if they wish to protect future electricity works constructed on private land. This will need to be done in accordance with the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act, whereby compensation will be provided for private landowners that are affected by any future electricity works.
The Government has indicated that all other States in Australia have passed legislation to provide some form of statutory right for network operators to locate electricity works on land over which they have no formal interest. This legislation follows suit. The bill clarifies that a network operator may require the removal of a structure that interferes with the safe operation of electricity works, where the electricity works are located on land owned or occupied by the person having control of the structure. The bill also provides that the cost of removal of the structure, and compensation payable to the owner for any consequential loss or damage, is to be borne by the network operator in most cases — essentially where the structures are erected with the knowledge or acquiescence of the network operator. The bill does not seek to discontinue or affect any legal proceedings already commenced against network operators, except to prevent the court from making an order requiring a network operator to remove electricity works. On behalf of the Christian Democratic Party I commend the bill to the House.