Hunter line landholders get 80 per cent of the easement value within 20 business days of the deal, and the rest after construction

The short answer

If the line crosses your land, EnergyCo will usually not buy the land. It acquires an easement, a legal right to use part of it, and pays compensation under the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991. EnergyCo gets its own valuation, you get yours, and it pays reasonable legal and valuation fees. Once a Deed of Agreement is signed you are paid all of the temporary construction easement, 80 per cent of the agreed value of the permanent easement and all other agreed compensation, within 20 business days. The remaining 20 per cent comes after construction, when the permanent easement is defined and registered. On top of all that, the Strategic Benefit Payment pays eligible landholders the equivalent of $200,000 in 2022 dollars per kilometre hosted, over 20 years, starting within 90 days of the line being energised.

Who this is about

Not many people, which is the point of writing it down. When the project was approved in July, EnergyCo said about 90 per cent of the 110 kilometre route sits on mining, energy and government-owned land, and that the number of directly affected private properties had fallen from around 70 to fewer than 20. Those landholders are a small group facing a process most people go through once in a lifetime, if ever. EnergyCo’s project page says the team is now in detailed design and will keep engaging with landholders, and that construction is expected to start in 2027.

The steps, in EnergyCo’s order

Two details in that list matter more than they look. EnergyCo says Your entitlement to compensation is the same whether the easement is acquired by mutual agreement or through compulsory acquisition. So refusing does not change what the land is worth in law, only who decides the figure. And the construction easement is wide. For most projects EnergyCo says it needs a temporary construction easement of around 60 to 250 metres during building, and a narrower permanent easement defined once construction is finished.

When the money arrives

EnergyCo describes the final payment as Paid after construction is complete and permanent easements are formalised, which usually takes about 4 years after the initial agreement. That four years is its general figure across projects. For the Hunter line specifically, the planning approval describes a construction period of approximately 30 months, so the wait here may be shorter; it depends on when the Deed is signed, how long building actually takes, and when the survey and registration are done. The benefit payment is separate again. EnergyCo says it is made in addition to and will not reduce any compensation paid to landholders for transmission easements, and it is paid by the network operator, which for the Hunter line was still to be appointed when we last read the scheme’s Guidelines. Eligibility is not automatic payment either: the operator sends a Payment Direction form that has to be submitted each year.

If there is no agreement

EnergyCo says it has a minimum of six months to reach agreement from the opening letter, and calls compulsory acquisition a last resort. Its compulsory acquisition page sets out what follows if six months pass without a deal:

• A letter saying it intends to start the compulsory process, the pre-Proposed Acquisition Notice letter.
• If there is still no agreement 21 days later, a Proposed Acquisition Notice, which starts a period of at least 90 days. You keep full use and ownership in that time, and you can still accept an offer.
• If the period ends without agreement, an Acquisition Notice is published in the NSW Government Gazette and EnergyCo gains the right to use the easement.
• The NSW Valuer General then determines compensation, on the same Just Terms basis, and you can put your own view of fair compensation to it on the form attached to the notice.
• If you do not accept that figure, you can object to the NSW Land and Environment Court within 90 days of the compensation notice. You are then paid 90 per cent of the Valuer General’s amount within 28 days of EnergyCo being told of the objection, and the court decides the rest. Miss the 90 days and the determination is treated as accepted.

EnergyCo also says that most landholders reach agreement during the 90-day period. It publishes no figure for that on these pages, so we report it as EnergyCo’s statement.

The support that exists

Each landholder gets an acquisition manager for the process and a place manager for personal support. EnergyCo says it pays reasonable fees for your own valuer and solicitor, and asks that you check with its acquisition team first before running up fees for other specialists such as accountants, town planners or surveyors. If the up-front cost is a hardship, its valuation page says to raise direct payment or advance reimbursement with the acquisition manager. Separately, the NSW Government has engaged an independent provider to run a free, confidential Property Acquisition Support Line on 1300 089 551, staffed by psychologists and social workers 24 hours a day, with up to five free counselling sessions per person for those eligible. Details are not shared with EnergyCo or the Centre for Property Acquisition, which receives only the number of people per project who used it.

Our view

The process EnergyCo publishes is set out plainly, and two of its terms deserve more prominence than they get. The first is the timing of the last 20 per cent. A landholder budgeting on the agreed figure should plan on receiving four-fifths of the permanent easement value within 20 business days of signing and the rest years later, and is entitled to ask the acquisition manager what date EnergyCo expects for this project rather than the general four years. The second is that compensation is assessed on the same basis whether you agree or not. That makes the independent valuation the real point of leverage, and EnergyCo pays its reasonable fees. Read together with the benefit payment, the honest summary is three cheques on three clocks: one shortly after signing, one after construction, and twenty after energisation.