Powercor fined $2.1m after maintenance failures sparked Victorian bushfire

Electricity distributor Powercor will pay $2.1 million for failing to inspect and trim vegetation growing under its powerlines, eventually causing a bushfire.

Powercor had pleaded guilty to more than 100 charges for failing to manage risks and hazards to its electricity network, and a further charge for its role in a bushfire at Glenmore, west of Melbourne, in February 2023.

The blaze scorched about 185 hectares of land, destroying sheds, fences and farming equipment.

READ MORE: Hunter bus driver pleads guilty to causing 10 deaths

The charges related to more than 4800 failures to inspect encroaching vegetation in bushfire risk areas, 140 failures to cut back vegetation Powercor knew was too close to its power lines and one charge in relation to the Glenmore fire.

The court was told the distributor scrapped plans to trim vegetation below its lines 10 days before the fire, despite a recommendation made by one of its inspectors a year before.

The maximum possible fine for the offending was more than $3.8 million.

READ MORE: Escaped prisoner on the run after fleeing police in Darwin

In sentencing submissions to the court, prosecutor Andrew Woods had described the offending as "very serious" and said any fine should not be seen as simply the cost of doing business.

Powercor has been contacted for comment.