Homeowners to be charged $2000 to have underground power installed in parts of North Perth and Mt Hawthorn

North Perth and Mt Hawthorn households will need to cough up at least $2000 as part of a $35 million project to have underground power installed in their suburbs. The City of Vincent council unanimously voted at a meeting last Tuesday night to go ahead with its Network Renewal Underground Power Program and work with Western Power to install underground power across parts of North Perth and Mt Hawthorn. Of the $35m, about $28.4m (81 per cent) will be paid by Western Power with the remaining $6.7m (19 per cent) funded by ratepayers. This means North Perth and Mt Hawthorn homes — between Green, Walcott and Oxford streets — will be slapped with a network charge of $2078 and a connection charge of between $0 and $3457. Commercial property owners will need to pay a network charge of $305 per kilo-volt-amperes and a connection charge of between $0 and $3457. A network charge is the associated demand for network capacity as allocated by Western Power, while a connection fee is dependent on the property’s existing underground consumer main and the location of the main electrical switchboard. “If you currently have an underground connection, you pay zero (in connection fees),” a Vincent City officer said. “If you require underground connection, you’ll pay the full amount. “For properties where multiple properties are connected to one connection, that connection charge will be shared amongst all of those properties ... so if there’s four units and there’s one connection, they’ll pay one-quarter of the cost.” Up to 70 per cent of ratepayers will be given the option to pay the network charge upfront or in four annual instalments. Priority will be given to pensioners and those experiencing financial hardship. “One of the big advantages of ground power is the liveability that comes with it, in terms of tree canopy and also reduced levels of blackouts,” Vincent mayor Alison Xamon said. “It‘s absolutely fantastic.” Underground power works are set to begin in November and expected to be complete by November 2026.