Osborne Park, Tuart Hill and Joondanna next to get underground power

Parts of Osborne Park, Tuart Hill, Joondanna and Stirling are the latest suburbs in the City of Stirling to have their power transferred underground.

Progress on other projects in the City - North Perth / Mount Hawthorn and Doubleview, are well under way.

In November 2022 the State Government announced the State Government’s new Targeted Underground Power Program (TUPP) for the City.

As of June 2023, 10 WA local governments have committed to the TUPP, which will provide up to 50,000 WA properties with a safer and more reliable power supply.

As part of the project, distribution powerlines are placed underground, with transmission lines remaining overhead.

Construction is expected to start in early 2024 in North Perth / Mount Hawthorn and by the middle of 2024 in Doubleview. Parts of Osborne Park, Tuart Hill, Joondanna and Stirling will begin construction in mid-to-late 2025.

Parts of Inglewood, Tuart Hill, Maylands and Balcatta are earmarked to receive underground power after 2025, with projects selected based on overhead power lines that are reaching their end of life.

Under the TUPP, the costs of the program are shared between Western Power, local government and the State Government. The City is adopting a user pays model, where residents pay a connection cost unless already undergrounded.* The State Government’s contribution is tiered based on socio-economic indicators.

City of Stirling CEO Stuart Jardine said that the advantages of underground power would mean higher property values for homeowners in the selected suburbs, and a cleaner streetscape.

“The City of Stirling believes that given the benefits of underground power, along with the cost sharing arrangements between all parties, the TUPP is the fairest way to replace ageing overhead wires.

“The City and our partner Western Power will reach out to residents of Osborne Park as the project progresses to share further details, including information from the City regarding indicative costs.”

View the latest updates on our websites – www.stirling.wa.gov.au/Osborne-Park-TUPP and www.westernpower.com.au/underground-power

*Residents will also be required to pay a proportion of the network cost regardless of whether the residents service connection is undergrounded or not, with the total cost of the project is determined by Western Power.