Murray Street substation sparks heritage listing

A 99-year-old electricity substation that helps tell the story of the first centralised electricity supply in Perth has been State heritage listed.

  • Historic substation entered in State Register of Heritage Places

  • Landmark building in revitalised west end of Murray Street, Perth

A 99-year-old electricity substation that helps tell the story of the first centralised electricity supply in Perth has been State heritage listed.

The No.2 Substation was one of four electricity substations constructed by the Perth City Council (now City of Perth) from 1913 to 1915 to operate in conjunction with the East Perth Power Station, which opened in 1916.

Heritage Minister Albert Jacob said the No.2 Substation was in the heart of the revitalised west end of Murray Street, near the corner of the historic King Street Precinct.

"Thousands of people walk past this building every day without knowing the important role it played in creating a more reliable supply of electricity to meet the growing needs of the city," Mr Jacob said.

"It also heralded the start of a fundamental change in Western Australia's electricity supply with the State Government entering the market, eventually taking over responsibility from local municipalities for all electricity production in the State in 1946."

Around 1912, the State Government approached the Perth City Council with a proposal that the government would build one central power station that would produce sufficient power for the city and suburbs.  Perth council would purchase the government's electricity to on-sell to its residents.

The City of Perth subsequently built substations in Wellington, Murray, Colin and Palmerston streets to feed into the East Perth Power Station network.

"No.2 Substation was designed to fit in with the streetscape, dominated by commercial businesses, showrooms and warehouses, many constructed between the 1890s and the 1930s," the Minister said.

"Although No.2 Substation was decommissioned in the 1980s and stripped of its equipment, it still contains one of the first and tallest iron spiral staircases in the city, built by local foundry J & E Ledger."

        Fact File

  • More than 1,350 places are listed in State Register of Heritage Places, managed by the Heritage Council and State Heritage Office

  • More information at http://www.stateheritage.wa.gov.au

Minister's office - 6552 5800