A cost shortfall of $2 billion associated with the HumeLink transmission project could see electricity consumers copping an extra $60 payment each year.
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A new report from the Victoria Energy Policy Centre (VEPC) says that the estimated cost of the power line project has risen from $1.3 billion to $3.3 billion, around 250 per cent, and that NSW household tariffs will increase by around four per cent.
TransGrid's proposed HumeLink project would see 500kV transmission lines built to connect Wagga, Bannaby and Maragle, carrying new generation sources to customers.
The most notable generation source is the Snowy 2.0 hydro project, accounting for 80 per cent of HumeLink's firm capacity, the VEPC report says.
Communities across the Riverina in the path of the transmission line corridor are already feeling the impact closer to home.
The HumeLink Action Group, made up of members throughout the Snowy Valleys, say they have been trying to work with TransGrid since May 2020 to move the corridor from prime agricultural land to a more suitable location on public land.
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Action Group Chair Bill Kingwill said TransGrid has "made a mess of the consultation process", and that the group "reject[s] the two routes they have put forward".
"It's the only way we can hold them up and for landowners to avoid getting locked into having their land acquired by compulsory acquisition," co-Chair Jen Dumbrell said.
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