Victorian electricity transmission charges could more than double if Australia’s longest power line proceeds

Proposed 800km VNI West will be costlier than alternatives and won't solve grid bottlenecks holding back new solar and wind, thinktank says

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Victorians face a more than doubling of transmission charges on electricity bills if the state government proceeds with plans for what is likely to be the most costly and longest single power line in Australia's history, a thinktank says in a new report.

The report by the Victoria Energy Policy Centre (VEPC) argues the proposed 500 kilovolt VNI West transmission line linking Melbourne's outskirts with Wagga Wagga on an 800km path will be far costlier than alternatives and faces extensive landholder opposition. It also will not solve grid bottlenecks holding back new solar and windfarms in the state.

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