General News
12 July, 2025
Eyes up, helicopter scanning in progress
Wimmera residents may notice the buzz of a helicopter in the air over the next few weeks, as Powercor carries out scanning of lines across the region.
Areas of impact are expected to be Ararat, Dimboola, Edenhope, Halls Gap, Horsham, Kaniva, Murtoa, Rainbow, Stawell and Warracknabeal.
It's all part of Powercor’s bushfire mitigation and vegetation management program.
People may hear or see the choppers, which fly about 300 metres above the ground and use technology known as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to scan the distance between tree branches and lines.
Using the LiDAR data, Powercor teams create 3D models of powerlines and their surroundings, helping to inform what vegetation needs to be cut.
Powercor’s Head of Vegetation Management, Ayce Cordy, said it was important that accurate measurements were taken of all vegetation each and every year.
“Inspecting and managing vegetation growing near powerlines is an essential part of how we keep power safe and reliable for our customers,” Mr Cordy said.
“By capturing data every year, we can track growth rates of vegetation across our network, helping us plan where to cut right now and when we may need to conduct cutting in the future.”
Each year Powercor uses a fleet of helicopters to inspect 100 per cent of more than 77,000 kilometres of powerlines across western Victoria.