Protecting wildlife & power
Protecting wildlife & power: Why mitigation matters for Australian utilities
In Australia, where the bush meets the grid, wildlife and power infrastructure often collide. Possums, birds, gliders, and snakes are common culprits behind feeder trips, blown fuses, and even substation outages. For energy utilities working across sprawling rural networks and growing urban fringes, wildlife mitigation is no longer just about preventing blackouts. It’s about safeguarding reliability, reducing bushfire risks, and protecting our unique native species.
The local challenge
- Reliability: native animals bridging conductors or equipment are a leading cause of unplanned outages in both city suburbs and regional communities.
- Safety and fire: Arcing events can ignite dry vegetation, compounding bushfire risk during hot summers.
- Cost: Each wildlife-related fault means callouts, equipment damage, and penalties under performance incentive schemes.
- Community and environment: Australians care deeply about protecting native fauna. Preventing wildlife deaths at substations and poles is a responsibility as much as it is a reliability strategy.
Tools that work: Reliaguard® & Greenjacket®
Two proven product families are helping Australian utilities harden their assets against animal contact cruelty free. Reliaguard and Greenjacket.
Reliaguard®: Widely used across distribution networks, these modular bushing covers, line guards, and cutout protectors are designed for quick installation on poles and padmounts. They provide a practical way to reduce contact risk on everyday equipment and are ideal for widespread deployment across feeders where possums, cockatoos, or snakes are active. View the Reliaguard product showcase
Greenjacket®: Known for precision-engineered covers, Greenjacket solutions are tailored to fit complex substation gear—bus work, breaker bushings, CTs, and disconnects. With robust materials suited to Australian UV and heat, they provide long-term protection where outages can affect thousands of customers or critical industrial loads.
Together, they form a layered defence: Reliaguard for broad coverage at the distribution level and Greenjacket for high-value substation assets.
Why it matters
Mitigation isn’t just about keeping the lights on. In the Australian context it means:
- Bushfire risk reduction: Preventing wildlife faults that could spark fires in high-fuel conditions.
- Regulatory alignment: meeting reliability targets and demonstrating proactive resilience.
- Community trust: showing customers that the utility is investing in both service reliability and wildlife welfare.
- Cost savings: fewer emergency callouts and equipment replacements, freeing budgets for planned upgrades.
For Australian utilities, wildlife mitigation delivers a triple win: stronger networks, safer communities, and better protection for our native species. By standardising solutions like Reliaguard® on feeders and Greenjacket® in substations, operators can cut outage rates, reduce fire risk, and show leadership in environmental responsibility. It’s one of the smartest, most cost-effective steps a utility can take to build a more reliable and sustainable grid for the future.
