After fighting to save their homes from a devastating bushfire, these NSW communities are fighting together once more.
Transgrid has proposed building a 500kV high-voltage transmission line that would connect Wagga, Bannaby and Maragle to increase electricity delivered across the national electricity market (NEM).
The transmission line was expected to bring about $491 million in net benefits to consumers through reduced prices and involves 360 kilometres of new transmission lines linking Greater Sydney to Snowy 2.0 and another planned transmission line between Wagga Wagga and South Australia.
But it is set to be built in some areas classified as "bushfire prone" in the Riverina in the state's south-east, including near the ignition site of the Dunns Road bushfire, which tore through 330,000 hectares during 2019-2020.
Rebecca Tobin, a fourth-generation farmer near Adelong in the state's south-east, would like to see the entire HumeLink line go underground.
She said her family's property, which was given to her grandfather as a soldier settlement block after fighting in New Guinea during World War II, was "mere kilometres" away from the ignition site.
"We have fires and lightning strikes in our area regularly.
"We're also surrounded by state forest and also private plantations and some reserves."
They already have a 330kV line on their property and they do not want another line.
"That basically provides a no-go zone for any aerial or ground firefighting personnel," the mother-of-two said.
She said Transgrid doesn't seem to be listening to their concerns, despite commissioning an underground feasibility study, which she is on the steering committee for.
"We're presenting how much of a fire risk this is to us and our community and here we are still impacted, so it doesn't feel like we're heard," Ms Tobin said.
"There's been a couple of identifying signals where you feel as though Transgrid is doing this to somewhat silence the community and to say this is going to be too expensive."
Emergency response concerns
On January 4, 2020, the Dunns Road fire crept into HumeLink Action Group member Andrea Sturgess's kitchen window.
She and her husband Paul fought to save their home, on-site business and 80 head of cattle at their property at the southern end of the Gilmore Valley, near Batlow.
The fire, which is suspected to have been caused by a lightning strike, destroyed more than 180 homes and killed thousands of livestock.
Ms Sturgess and other members of the community were concerned about the impact overhead transmission lines would have on future firefighting efforts.
If it did go ahead, it would be the first transmission line on Ms Sturgess's property, which has state forest on the three sides.
"I know Transgrid does have their fact sheets; the four pages I've read front, backwards, inside and out," Ms Sturgess said.
"There's nothing in them [to say what will happen] if we get another Dunns Road fire in the same extreme again. Nothing will help us except for them to turn it off."
Safety in mind
Executive general manager major projects for Transgrid Gordon Taylor said if the study found undergrounding was viable it would consider it but it was not the "favoured option" as it would cost "three to 10 times more per kilometre".
He said Transgrid's overhead transmission lines would be built to minimise fire risk by equipping them with wires directing lightning strikes straight into the ground and trying to avoid building in high bushfire-prone areas.
When asked about parts of the line going through classified bushfire prone areas including near Batlow and Tumut, Mr Taylor said he "was aware" but had little detail.
Mr Taylor said he did not know a lot about landowner claims that the RFS had limited capabilities when fighting bushfires near transmission towers, but safety mitigation measures were in place.
"We string the line at a minimum height to avoid an arc or strike from the line to the ground, or through a vehicle or a person nearby," he said.
"We would be under the instructions of the Rural Fire Services and if they felt there was any risk.
"They would then instruct us to switch the line off and we would follow their instructions."
A New South Wales Rural Fire Service spokesperson said firefighters performed risk assessments to consider hazards, which included overhead power lines.
"The NSW RFS works closely with energy authorities to provide appropriate access, ensure the safety of firefighters and to help reduce the potential impact on infrastructure."
Editor's note: A previous version of this story quoted Mr Taylor saying he knew "dangerously little" about firefighting near transmission lines. The article has been amended to reflect that this was an off the cuff comment initially given undue significance.
