The Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 2021 expired on 1 September 2021.

The Regulations set out how vegetation must be kept clear of powerlines, most commonly by the South Australian electricity network companies including SA Power Networks and ElectraNet.

The Regulations are administered by the Office of the Technical Regulator (OTR).

Following the review of the Electricity (Principles of Vegetation Clearance) Regulations 2010, the regulations were remade with changes.

Summary of major changes

The maps of the bushfire risk area (shown as FIRE RISK), non-bushfire risk area (not prescribed) (shown as NO FIRE RISK) and prescribed area (shown as PRESCRIBED NO FIRE RISK) are published on the Location SA Map Viewer by data searching ‘Electricity Regulations Boundaries’.

In case of Location SA showing an outdated dataset (only FIRE RISK/NO FIRE RISK visible) the maps are also available to download and view in Google Earth as the geographic information system (GIS) data file ElectricityRegulationBoundaries.kmz (892 KB). Please Contact the Office of the Technical Regulator for help if required.

The vegetation species list (XLSX, 35.5 KB) has also been updated. The approved species (list 1) remains the same with additional species added to the permitted species (list 2), including advice on appropriate climate regions for each species.

The sag and swing based clearances are extended to distribution voltage powerlines. It has been implemented in Schedule 1 clause 6, with the option of Technical Regulator determination of a method of calculation of alternative clearance distances on application from an electricity entity.

The clearance of saplings is included as plants grown wholly in the last 5 years, as regulation 4(5)(iv), with regulation 4(6) requiring guidelines to be prepared for this clearance.

Related information

The Act and Regulations may be found at www.legislation.sa.gov.au