New energy watchdog has more bite

The Victorian Minister for Energy Industries and Resources, Theo Theophanous has announced the amalgamation of Victoria's three energy safety watchdogs to form one office - Energy Safe Victoria.

Theophanous said that the new entity would bring under the one roof the Office of Gas Safety, the Office of the Chief Electrical Inspector and the pipelines safety functions of the Department of Primary Industries.

"I am very pleased to announce the new single-office safety regulator, bringing us into line with all other states after the previous government had set up three different agencies," Theophanous said. "The establishment of energy Safe Victoria is another example of our commitment to modernise the energy industry for the benefit of all Victorians." Theophanous said the decision to amalgamate the existing safety offices was made so that the delivery of safety outcomes could be achieved in the most efficient and effective manner.

Energy Safe Victoria will be established in July this year, with the consolidation of the three offices to come on board later in the year. The statutory positions of director of Gas Safety and Chief Electrical Inspector will be replaced by the single position of director of Energy Safety prior to the new office opening.

Theophanous said Victoria had a great energy safety record, and would continue to build on this record so that occurrences like the Longford explosion in the 1990s would never occur again.