This year marks 50 years since the switch was flicked on Australia’s first 330,000 volt major distribution centre. This major engineering project involved the design and construction of an extra-high voltage transmission line from the Snowy Mountains to a vital cog in the NSW power network, Yass.
The project was described as “a major milestone in the progress of electricity supply in Australia”.
“This development put Australia on par with countries such as the USA, Russia, Sweden France and Germany,” reported Network, the official monthly newspaper of the NSW Electricity Commission.
The new T1-Yass line was opened on April 28, 1959, and could carry enough power to supply the whole of south-west NSW. At Yass, power was stepped down to 132,000 volts and distributed to towns such as Albury, Wagga, Griffith, Goulburn, Queanbeyan, Canberra, Cooma and Cowra.
In view of the importance of the Yass centre, the Electricity Commission of NSW (EC) decided to move the System Control Division Area Control Centre to Yass, for the dual purpose of operating the substation and operating the south-west area of the system.
The EC took about three years to design and construct the 330,000 volt transmission line from the first giant underground Snowy Mountains hydroelectric plant, T1, to what some of the electrical workers who moved to the area found was a sleepy country town.
One of those new workers was Terry Legge, who accepted a transfer and promotion from Goulburn when the new substation was commissioned.
When the Assistant System Operator arrived in Yass, he had nowhere to live. “Accommodation in Yass was scarce,” he told the Tribune. “Hotels were booked out because of the influx of Electricity Commission workers.”
There was a house converted into a motel on the site where Berinba School now stands, but it was full as well. There were no flats to rent. The young husband, who had only been married a matter of months, took a room in a B&B in Church Street. Luckily for Terry and his new bride, who was at her parent’s place in Lithgow with appendicitis, he was able to secure a double room. After about six weeks of having to go out for dinner, they upgraded to two rooms in a boarding house.
The EC bought up many of the available houses for sale, and purchased about 30 blocks of land. New homes shot up, providing a fillip for the local economy, with tradesmen busy and cash registers ringing in the shops.
“The Electricity Commission coming to Yass kick-started a huge amount of development in the town,” said Terry, adding that the electrical workers soon became involved in the sport, recreation and community activities.
“Employees took executive positions on committees such as school P&F and P&Cs, many sporting clubs and other organisations. They made a big contribution to the town.”
Originally, the long-term shift worker was not impressed with the Yass he encountered as a young man. Fifty years on, he is a staunch defender of the town. He and Lorraine have reared two children here, educated them at Yass Primary, Berinba and Yass High, and have both taken a keen interest in community affairs.
Lorraine has been involved with P&Cs, VIEW Club, St Clement’s Church, Probus and many other organisations.
Terry has been especially active in the field of health. He was Chairman of the Yass Hospital Board for four years and member for 21 years and served as Member of the Yass District Aged Care Services Board and Gwen Warmington Lodge.
He was one of the founding members of the Yass Electricity Commission Social Club, an organisation set up to serve new employees in the town, and a foundation member of the Electricity Commission of NSW Welfare Fund which provided help for EC employees, such as sending an employee’s child to the USA for heart surgery when no suitable treatment was available in Australia.
He was also Secretary of Yass Lodge of Concord (Masonic Lodge) for 21 years and Treasurer of many sporting organisations.
The tireless charity worker received an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2008 for services to Yass in health and aged care.
“I’m very proud of Yass and I’m very proud of the facilities we have here,” he told the Tribune at the time.
The EC System Operator took early retirement in 1989 after 40 years of service. He describes his relocation to Yass in 1959 as “a big move and a good move”.
“The Electricity Commission made more of a difference to this town than anything else,” he says proudly. “The Electricity Commission made this town.”
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