Understanding the land acquisition process

In most cases, like building transmission lines, we don’t buy your land outright. Instead, we work with you to acquire an easement.

An easement is a legal right to access and use part of your land.

If we acquire an easement:

• You will remain the owner of the land
• You can continue using the land in most cases, with some restrictions to ensure public safety and reliability

For more information see Living and working near transmission line easements.

For most projects, we need:

1. a wider temporary construction easement (around 60 to 250 metres wide) during the building phase (about 4 years)
2. a narrower permanent easement which is defined once construction is finished.

In some cases, we can build within the permanent easement area from the start. In these cases we won't need an additional temporary construction easement area.

In either case, we aim to agree on compensation for all easements (both temporary and permanent) at the beginning of the process. Our acquisition approach provides:

• certainty about what interests in your land need to be acquired
• equity, by paying at least 80% of compensation once we reach agreement.

For certain infrastructure, like switching stations and energy hubs, we need to own the land to ensure that it remains secure and reliable.

• Switching stations are smaller facilities used to control electricity at required points in transmission infrastructure.
• Energy hubs are larger facilities, being a modern type of substation.

For these types of infrastructure we may need to buy the whole land or a significant portion of it. This is known as ‘freehold acquisition’.

Freehold acquisition means we'll buy the required portion of the land from you. These cases are less common and are handled separately. Your dedicated acquisition manager will contact you to provide more information if this is required.

You're entitled to compensation as provided under the Just Terms Act if we acquire an interest in your land.

Just Terms compensation for an easement acquisition typically includes:

• The market value of the property interests being acquired
• Payment for your reasonable legal and valuation fees

Other types of Just Terms compensation may apply depending on the acquisition.

We encourage you to obtain advice from an independent qualified valuer and solicitor to help inform your decisions during the acquisition process. We will compensate you for any reasonable fees associated with these services as part of the agreement.

In some cases, you may want to seek advice from other specialists such as accountants, town planners or surveyors. We recommend speaking to our acquisition team first to confirm if you will receive compensation for these costs.

Learn more about valuation and compensation

The Strategic Benefit Payments (SBP) Scheme ensures that private landowners who host a part of a transmission line will be paid a set rate of $200,000 per kilometre of transmission hosted. This will be paid in annual instalments over 20 years and indexed to inflation.

Annual payments will start for eligible private landowners once the project is operational, or ‘energised’.

Learn more about the Strategic Benefit Payment Scheme

We consult with impacted community members early in the project planning and investigation stage. 

We will contact you to learn how you currently use your land as well as discussing what transmission infrastructure is potentially planned in the immediate area.

We may also request access to your property for preliminary investigations to help inform our planning.

We'll always ask your permission before accessing your property.

Before carrying out any on-site investigations, we'll:

• explain exactly why we need access to your land
• tell you when we’ll be there and for how long
• describe what equipment we'll bring
• discuss any temporary impacts to your land.

We'll also ask you to outline any special conditions or protocols of entry we must adhere to, including biosecurity requirements, hazards to avoid and areas where access is restricted.

If an acquisition is identified which involves your land, we will ask to meet with you.

In this meeting we'll:

• provide information so you can better understand the acquisition process
• discuss next steps.

If your land is impacted by an EnergyCo project, we’ll send you an opening letter. This is the first formal step in the acquisition process.

The opening letter includes:

• Information about the acquisition process and your right to get legal and valuation advice
• a sketch plan showing:
  • areas needed temporarily for construction (if required)
  • the approximate location of permanent transmission easements
• details of your dedicated acquisition manager and place manager who will be available to answer questions and guide you through the process.

Both EnergyCo and the owner will each obtain their independent valuation assessing the owner’s compensation entitlement in relation to the interests to be acquired.

We'll compensate you for any reasonable fees associated with these services as part of the agreement.

We appreciate you may want to seek advice from other specialists such as accountants, town planners or surveyors. Please speak to your acquisition manager first to confirm if you will receive compensation for these costs.

We'll issue you a written offer based on our independent valuation.

Your letter of offer will explain:

• your compensation offer from EnergyCo
• the proposed terms and conditions
• next steps and what you can do.

When your independent valuation report is ready, we'll exchange reports. We will then arrange meetings or discussions with you and the independent valuers.

The purpose of these meetings is to discuss any differences between the valuers’ reports so we can reach an agreement on your compensation. We strongly encourage you to be part of these meetings.

This step can take a few weeks to allow enough time for the independent valuers to consider each other’s reports.

Following an agreement between the parties, our legal advisors will prepare and issue your legal advisor with a Deed of Agreement (Deed).

The Deed is a legal document which sets out:

• the area of land we need to acquire
• the agreed compensation for the acquisition of your land
• how you will be paid.

Once the Deed has been executed, we'll be able to access and use the land to begin construction, and you will receive an upfront payment for:

• 100% of compensation for the temporary construction easement
• 80% of the agreed market value compensation for the permanent interests
• 100% of all other agreed compensation (including legal and valuation fees).

If we're acquiring a permanent easement only, then this will be finalised at the time of the agreement.

In the case of freehold acquisition, we may use a Contract for Sale to complete the agreement.

Learn more about valuation and compensation

If we acquired a temporary construction easement, we will need to define the permanent easement after construction is complete. Construction takes around 4 years.

EnergyCo or our nominee will arrange a survey to define the permanent transmission easement. You won't need to pay for this survey.

After this, you will need to complete documentation to:

• register the permanent interests with Land Registry Services
• subdivide and transfer the switching station land (if applicable).

Your acquisition manager is your main point of contact throughout the acquisition process. They are here to help you with all aspects of the acquisition process.

Your acquisition manager can:

• explain the acquisition process
• answer your questions about how the project will impact your property
• discuss your specific concerns about the acquisition.

A place manager (also called a personal manager) is also available for your personal support at any time during the acquisition process if you need it.

While your acquisition manager focuses on the technical acquisition and procedural aspects of the acquisition, your place manager is available to provide additional personal support tailored to your individual circumstances.

Your place manager will help identify any additional personal assistance or support services available to you.