Home›Questions on Notice›QoN 422

❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks information about Western Power's tree pruning contractor, including ownership, contract value, and reasons for any changes. The Minister provides details about the current contractor, Active Trees Pty Ltd, and the process leading to their appointment.

AnsweredQoN 422Legislative Assembly

Asked

13 September 2005

Member

Mr M.J. Birney

Portfolio

Energy

QuestionView source ↗

(1) Will the Minister advise the name of the major contractor employed by Western Power to do tree pruning?
(2) Will the Minister advise if this company is Western Australian owned; and
(a) if not, which State does this company come from?
(3) What is the total annual value of the contract awarded to this company?
(4) Has Western Power changed the contractor in the last 3 years; and
(a) if so, why was this change made?
(5) Was the previous contractor a Western Australian-based company?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

12 October 2005

Responded by

Minister for Energy

Response time

29 days

(1) The contractor engaged by Western Power to manage its vegetation control obligations is Active Trees Pty Ltd. (2) The company is incorporated in New South Wales and operates in all states of Australia. (3) Following normal commercial practice, the contract between Western Power and Active Trees Pty Ltd contains a confidentiality clause that requires that the value of the contract not be provided to a third party. Revealing the contract value could also jeopardise the potential to secure competitive prices from the market in future. Furthermore, the value of the contract is not fixed and includes both fixed and variable components. However, it is anticipated that Western Power will spend between $30M and $40M over the next three years managing vegetation across the SWIS. (4) Western Power previously managed some 40 vegetation control contractors engaged under three different types of contract which varied in nature, scope and performance across the South West Interconnected System (SWIS). (4a) In early 2003, Western Power initiated a two-stage project to improve the cost effectiveness and performance of the vegetation control function across the SWIS. ? Stage 1 was an interim arrangement to reduce the number of contractors to a more manageable number, all based on a common contract. ? Stage 2 of the project was to develop and implement a more effective strategy for managing the overall vegetation process within the SWIS, through a rigorous open tender process. The outcome of this process was the appointment of a single, prime contractor to manage all of the vegetation obligations. The prime contractor uses local contractors to carry out most of the cutting activities but is responsible for all of the planning, inspections and reporting. They are required to meet stringent performance targets. Active Trees employ local personnel for all administrative, inspection and transmission clearing work and engage suitably qualified and Western Power approved local contractors to manage vegetation around distribution lines. (5) There was previously no single contractor performing vegetation control obligations.

View on Parliament of WA