VICTORIAN grain growers are all too aware of what happens when the private sector is given monopoly powers over crucial public infrastructure.

The gaping holes under tracks, missing spikes and warped lines of Victoria's degraded freight rail network are testament to the current and past governments' failure to demand the private sector maintains the asset.READ MORE

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Now it seems another public asset is under threat - regional Victoria's powerline network.

The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission has heard evidence powerlines, managed and maintained by both SP AusNet and Powercor, were implicated in starting five of Black Saturday's fires.

The question is: "Has the regulatory framework that sets distributor pricing and performance standards failed Black Saturday's victims?"

Both companies say they are meeting their commitments on maintaining the powerlines. But what proof does the community have that the huge network of powerlines covering the state is being adequately maintained? Both companies, along with their city counterparts, have consistently underspent their forecast operations and maintenance budgets approved by the Australian Energy Regulator.

These forecasts are used by the AER to determine the tariffs and thus rates of return for Powercor and SP AusNet for the next five years. If the companies underspend in any particular area they get to keep the money, which boosts their rate of return.

The fact the AER's 2009 report states the companies consistently underspend, to the tune of more than $200 million, on their operations and maintenance forecasts deserves closer attention.

Ultimately all the regulator can do is audit the companies' performance and factor their underspending into its pricing determinations for the next five-year period, which is 2011-15.

So the savings are eventually passed on to customers through lower network tariffs.

But what are the unseen costs? How do we really know maintenance standards are being maintained?

Let's hope we all don't end up having to "buy back" yet another degraded asset because our political leaders failed to ensure efficiency didn't come at the cost of community safety.