Joe McGirr asks government, TransGrid to invest in undergrounding section of HumeLink transmission project

The federal government last week committed $7.8 billion to a number of transmission infrastructure projects, including HumeLink, which will see 65 metre tall power lines built across 360 kilometres to connect the Snowy 2.0 project to the energy grid.

Dr McGirr said now more funding has been announced, state, federal and TransGrid should "seriously consider" building at least a section of the project underground.

"Given that this is an investment for the next 70 or 80 years, I just want the government to think it through carefully, making the best investment now," he said.

"We have had six significant modifications made to the route to try and make sure that as few as possible landowners are affected, but at the end of the day, it's still going to go through people's property, it's still going to go over the landscape."

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Project operator TransGrid estimated it would cost an additional $11 billion to run the transmission cables underground, but others say independent estimates are between $5 billion and $9 million.

A TransGrid spokesperson said the cost difference between overground and underground construction of HumeLink is so much that it would significantly impact the costs to consumers.

"Given the cost-of-living pressures being experienced by customers, this is particularly pertinent and TransGrid is committed to doing everything it can to put downward pressure on customer bills," the spokesperson said.

"In addition, delays associated with undergrounding would have a significant impact on network security."

But Dr McGirr said by committing to running a large section of the project through the Snowy Valleys underground, local landowners would commit to supporting the project, avoiding delays.

It would also have less environmental impact, with a smaller easement needed and would be less of a bushfire risk.

"There is a section of the line that goes from South Australia to Wagga that's going overground, and that's on countryside that's quite flat and the farms are huge, so it makes sense to put it overground there," he said.

"But when you're going through the Snowy Valleys where the farms are smaller, the land is extremely fertile, the countryside is quite spectacular, then I think it makes sense to think about some alternatives, including undergrounding."

The state and federal funding will go towards a number of renewable energy and transmission projects including the establishing the Central West-Orana renewable energy zones, VNI West transmission project, and the Sydney Ring - Hunter Transmission Project.

Of the $7.8 billion investment, the federal government committed $4.7 billion.

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