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Powercor pleaded guilty to more than 100 charges of failing to manage risks and hazards to its electricity network and a further charge for its role in the Glenmore bushfire, west of Melbourne, in February 2023.
The flames burned about 185 hectares of land, destroying sheds, fences and farm machinery.
The charges related to more than 4,800 failed inspections of encroaching vegetation in bushfire-risk areas, 140 failures to cut vegetation that Powercor knew was too close to its power lines and one charge related to the Glenmore fire.
The court was told the distributor canceled plans to trim vegetation under its lines 10 days before the fire, despite a recommendation made by one of its inspectors a year earlier.
The maximum possible fine for the offender was more than $3.8 million.
In sentencing statements to the court, prosecutor Andrew Woods described the offense as “very serious” and said any fine should not be seen simply as the cost of doing business.
Powercor has been contacted for comment.
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