$4.7 million Regional Centre in Full Swing

19 May 2008

TransGrid today officially opened a new $4.7 million regional centre in Orange.

The new centre houses around 45 TransGrid employees, and provides essential support to TransGrid's ongoing work in the region.

"The building has been designed to be highly energy and water efficient, and will house a number of new apprentices we've recently employed from the region", said TransGrid Project Officer Reg Harris.

"This will be the base for TransGrid employees in the Region who will perform essential front-line work, like maintaining and upgrading substations, which will go a long way towards delivering our $1.2 billion capital works program.

"The modern facility will directly benefit the residents of western NSW, playing a major support role for other significant investments in the region", said Mr Harris.

"This includes a $90 million transmission line from Wollar to Wellington, substation works at Orange valued at $12 million, a new $5 million transformer at Parkes and a $25 million transmission line connecting Parkes to Manildra.

TransGrid will spend $538 million in 2008-09 to maintain and expand the New South Wales high voltage electricity network.

"We're committed to providing the reliable electricity supply that the region has come to expect", said Mr Harris.

Media Contact: David Fayyad Corporate Relations Manager