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       Powercor fined $2.1m after maintenance failures sparked Victorian
       bushfire
        
 (HTM) Source
        
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       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.
        
       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.
        
       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.
        
        
        
        
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