When Cameron Botterill left home one morning, he didn't expect to return to 15-metre power poles soaring above his residential street in Melbourne's inner west.
The new poles are more than twice the height of the 7-metre wooden poles they replaced, and can carry up to 66,000 volts of electricity — about 160 times the voltage that before ran through his street.
In July, Mr Botterill was told by his electricity distributor, Jemena, that the power would be shut off to allow workers to replace the poles on his street.
The NextDC data centre in nearby West Footscray is already operating, and it's being expanded. One more data centre is proposed for the suburb with another in Spotswood.
Jemena says the new power poles are part of its local network upgrade "to help support Melbourne's growing energy needs".
"These taller power poles are required mainly for safety reasons," said Michael Brear, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Melbourne.
"When you have a large electrical load like a data centre, you supply it most economically at a higher voltage than typically you would in your home."
On streets where the poles have been installed in Melbourne's inner west, there is a consistent complaint: residents didn't know the change was happening.
Paul Tyndale was one of those caught by surprise when Jemena crews disconnected his power in the inner west suburb of Spotswood to install a new taller pole.
On September 22, Victoria's government announced new regulations that would ban data centres in residential areas, enact a 150-metre buffer zone from homes and need data centres to use renewable power.