WA wooden power pole work lags: report IT'S going to cost a further $2 billion and take at least nine years to bring Western Australia's neglected wooden power pole network up to scratch, Auditor General Colin Murphy says. In a report released on Wednesday, Mr Murphy said state-owned electricity line and pole manager Western Power was replacing and reinforcing the poles slowly, but had made progress and exceeded its 2012/13 targets. While Western Power had met several requirements of a September 2009 EnergySafety order, it would not meet the requirement to reinforce or replace all unsupported rural wood poles by the end of 2015, he said. In fact, Western Power estimates that it will fall well short. This reflects an ongoing difference of view between Western Power and EnergySafety over which poles represent the highest risk to public safety and therefore should be prioritised for action. Mr Murphy said the $1 billion that Western Power planned to spend by 2017 on the network, which had suffered from decades of under-investment, would not bring it to a steady state condition. "Estimates are that it will take a further $1 billion and until 2022 at the earliest," he said. The Auditor General recommended that Western Power complete an analysis to confirm when a steady state of wood pole maintenance could be achieved, and at what cost, by mid 2015. Western Power said it accepted the findings of the report and was committed to complying with the EnergySafety order "to the fullest extent possible taking into account delivery and funding constraints."