South West Interconnected System and North West Interconnected system—Upgrades
185. Hon Dr Steve Thomas to the Leader of the House representing the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to the approval and construction program of Western Power to provide new and upgraded power connections to the South West Interconnected System and North West Interconnected System.
(1) What specific measurements do Western Power and Horizon Power use to assess the time taken to both approve and deliver power through new and upgraded connections?(2) How does each entity assess average timeframes for approval and delivery?(3) To whom and where are these individual and average timeframes made available?(4) Can the minister please provide the average timeframes for both Western Power and Horizon Power? (5) Why has Western Power removed its indicative timeframes for development of energy supply from its website?Hon Stephen Dawson replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(3) Distribution customer connection timeframes incorporate each phase of the project's life cycle, including times at which the project is waiting for customers' requirements to be completed. Average timeframes are determined based on actual timeframes to deliver similar types of projects and the complexity of those projects at each phase of delivery. Average timeframes for distribution-related connections are published on Western Power's and Horizon Power's external websites.(4) The information is a list and I seek leave to have it incorporated into Hansard.Leave granted for the following material to be incorporated.
4.Western Power (as at May 2025)· Single residential connections – average timeframe of 10 months· Large Multi-residential connections – average timeframe of 13 monthsHorizon Power· 30 business days to design and provide a formal quote, and· 12 weeks for work to commence following receipt of payment.(5) Average timeframes are published on Western Power’s website.