Mrs Porter sent a letter to the premier on Monday after a secret Powercor maintenance report was unearthed during a Supreme Court compensation trial involving 189 victims of The Sisters/Garvoc bushfire on March 17 last year.

In the report electricity giant Powercor advocated an eight-fold increase in the replacement of wooden poles and admitted to flaws in its inspection regime.

A total of 384 poles failed in the past decade although only 210 were reported to independent regulator Energy Safe Victoria, and of those 384, a stunning 75 per cent of poles had not been identified as having issues.

Mr Andrews has previously declined to meet with The Sisters dairyfarmer and his office was contacted for comment this morning.

A rotten and termite-riddled pole snapped causing The Sisters/Garvoc fire at 8.50pm on St Patrick's Day.

Mrs Porter has since been a strident critic of ESV which was highlighted as a weak regulator in the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission.

Mid this year ESV found there were no systemic issues with the 567,000 Powercor pole-system and it was "fit for purpose".

The explosive secret Powercor maintenance report can only be seen as contradictory to that finding, especially as Mrs Porter's independent testing found other poles in similar degraded condition.

In her letter to the premier, Mrs Porter said that fires caused by aged and failed electrical infrastructure, like the four main fires in the south-west on St Patrick's Day last year, were preventable.

"These fires are deadly, occur most frequently on days of catastrophic risk (code red) and are responsible for more than 80 per cent of deaths in Victoria's bushfire history," she said.

"I have previously demonstrated the failure of network distribution businesses to inspect, maintain and replace their networks to a safe standard.

"I have also shown ESV to be an ineffective regulator. ESV reported in July 2019, Powercor's regime as 'fit for purpose'.

"My community is asking - fit for whose purpose?

"The recent Powercor 'Reliability Centred Maintenance' Report (October 2019) validates my findings and reinforces my calls for essential and immediate change.

"The report shows Powercor does not have a long-term sustainable plan currently in place to manage its fleet of ageing and near end of useful life poles.

"ESV has not been active in understanding these issues despite knowing since its inception that electricity poles were old and failing."

Mrs Porter said rural communities, like hers, were devastatingly vulnerable to bushfires caused by failing electrical infrastructure, despite the royal commission's findings.

"Safety means by definition, free from danger. It is your government's duty to protect its constituents and ensure our safety. Under the current regulatory regime this is not occurring," she wrote to Mr Andrews.

"As the Premier of Victoria, the responsibility of our safety ultimately rests with you. I urge you to meet with me to discuss this important issue.

"Together, we need to make urgent change ahead of the potentially catastrophic bushfire season.

"The network distribution companies must be made to improve their regimes and ensure a robust distribution network. Rural Victorians have a right to be safe."

Mrs Porter has previously met with Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio but she said there were a number of key issues that had not been addressed by the government.

She said the soon-to-be announced new head of ESV had to be from outside the organisation due to ESV's inability to regulate the distribution businesses.

"When will penalties apply a financial disincentive to network businesses who do the wrong thing?" Mrs Porter asked. She was referring to ESV maximum fines of $250,000 while like regulators such as WorkSafe and the Environment Protection Authority had maximum penalties of about $3 million fines.

"As we move towards 'safety-based' regulation (prescribed as best practice throughout the world) we should be mindful that in order for this type of regulation to be effective, it requires both a capable and independent regulator and network businesses who want to do the right thing," she said.

"As demonstrated so devastatingly in the St Patrick's day fires, we have neither. There have been 10 years of inaction since the 2009 VBRC. We all deserve to be safe."

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In response to the secret report, Ms D'Ambrosio said she was aware there was significant community concern.

"And expect all distribution businesses to be putting public safety first," she said

"Energy Safe Victoria has a duty to protect the public and hold those doing the wrong thing to account - and they have laid charges against Powercor, with the first hearing to be held next month."

ESV laid charges against Powercor over the Terang/Cobden and The Sisters/Garvoc bushfires, but only after a Supreme Court compensation case in Warrnambool showed Powercor had data which would have revealed the dangers if that data had been reviewed.

The charges are listed for a first hearing in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court during January next year.

A spokeswoman for Ms D'Ambrosio said ESV had also been undertaking an investigation into the long-term sustainability of Powercor's inspection regime and a draft report, with a summary of the findings and recommendations, would be released before the end of the year.

Due to south-west community concerns, Powercor has already instigated changes to its inspection regime and pole testing standards.

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