Suburban Residents Rebel Against 15-Metre Power Poles Linked to Data Centre Expansion

Residents in Melbourne's inner west are up in arms over the installation of 15-metre power poles in their streets, which they claim were done without their knowledge or consent. The poles, which are more than twice the height of the old ones, are part of an upgrade to support the growing energy needs of the area, particularly the expansion of a nearby data centre.

"They're absolute monstrosities," said Cameron Botterill, a resident who returned home to find the new poles installed. "They're ginormous. They tower above anything else in the suburb and they look very industrial. We're in a residential area here and we definitely did not ask for them to be installed."

The new poles can carry up to 66,000 volts of electricity, roughly 160 times the voltage that previously ran through the street. Botterill was notified by his electricity distributor, Jemena, that the power would be shut off to allow workers to replace the poles, but he wasn't told why until the day the new poles appeared.

"I asked them why they had installed this. They told me it was to run power to a data centre. That data centre is at least over a kilometre [away]," he said. "I was shocked that this could be installed in a residential area."

Jemena says the new power poles are part of its local network upgrade "to help support Melbourne's growing energy needs". "These taller power poles are required mainly for safety reasons," said Michael Brear, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Melbourne. "When you have a large electrical load like a data centre, you supply it most economically at a higher voltage than typically you would in your home."

However, residents claim they were not informed about the change, and some have taken to protesting the installation of the poles. On Sanderson Street in Yarraville, residents left cars and bins out to block equipment needed to install the poles, forcing Jemena crews to abandon their work.

"We were all just really caught off guard and just felt like it was really unfair that we weren't told about what was happening," resident Katrina Dardha said. "So we said, 'No, enough's enough.'"

State Labor MP Katie Hall, whose seat includes West Footscray, home to a large data centre, says she understands why residents are angry about the tall poles. "I think there's a frustration there. I think there's a lack of understanding around why this needs to go down a residential street. Why can't it go down a bigger street?" she said.

Hall has called for stricter guardrails to regulate data centre development, and the state government has announced new regulations that would ban data centres in residential areas and require them to use renewable power. However, some residents believe the new rules are too little, too late.

"These will not apply to any of the existing or planned data centres," said Ella Sjodin, a resident who protested against AI and data centre development. "They're only going to apply to future data centres that aren't yet planned. There's dozens and dozens that are already up and already planned. So, I think it's just absolutely not good enough."

Jemena has responded to the backlash, saying it has "paused works and [is] taking the time to listen to the community to understand their concerns". The company also provided some clarity as to who was paying for the installation of new power poles as part of its network upgrade, stating that large load users, including data centres, are required to pay 100 per cent up-front for their connection costs.