The cost of Queensland’s CopperString transmission line project has blown out to almost $14 billion – four times what the state government will spend on the Olympics and Paralympics. Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki is expected to reveal the massive cost increase in a major speech on Tuesday after a review into the high voltage network project. It is a significant increase from the $1.8 billion slated when the project was first announced in 2020. The construction of 1,100-kilometres of overhead power lines from Townsville to Mount Isa would result in mines and towns in the region being connected to the national electricity market for the first time. Queensland MP Robbie Katter has called for project operator, Powerlink, to step down from the construction of the project. The project was purchased by the Queensland government in 2023. It then tasked government-owned corporation Powerlink to deliver the construction. Powerlink has since advised it would be better to build the transmission line from Townsville to Hughenden before extending it to Mount Isa — a backflip on the original plan to first build west from Hughenden. Mr Katter, who is leader of Katter's Australia Party and state member for Traeger, said the news underscored a lack of desire or drive to get the project built. "We've put up with a lot of signs of gross incompetence, this in the nail in the coffin, the government can no longer ignore this issue," Mr Katter said. Billion-dollar blowouts With ground broken at an accommodation camp in Hughenden in July 2024, the shake-up in recommendation comes amid concerns any change could delay or even jeopardise the future of the project. "Everything is blowing out, and you've got ambivalence from the leadership about where we it should start it," Mr Katter said. "They're treating customers like they're insignificant and they're nothing, and that's our future they're playing around with." CopperString 2032 is on track for completion by 2029, with commissioning of the transmission line expected by 2031. Powerlink said proposed changes could mean the project connected existing networks earlier, and be more cost-effective. For Mr Katter, it was the last straw. "There's plenty of construction companies out there that could build this faster and progress," he said. He said he was concerned about the flow-on effect the uncertainty would have on shires dotted across the bush. "Flinders Shire have to decide whether to extend the sewerage network and spend ratepayers' money," he said. "Richmond and Julia Creek have to plan around housing and what they can develop. Concern across the region The proposal to flip the order in which the transmission line is built has been met with dismay by many across north-west Queensland. Mount Isa to Townsville Economic Zone (MITEZ) chief executive Maria James said she was shocked when Powerlink told her about the advice it had given government. "My concern is that it's the projects in the west that need (CopperString) the most," she said. "If we don't have certainty, if we don't have key deliverables, key milestones, they may not survive this." Clarity in the pipeline A spokesperson for Powerlink said the mandate from the previous state government was to deliver a smaller project. "The ultimate development cost may be up to $13.9 billion, but this doesn't reflect an increase in cost, the original scope was only deliver the 836km high voltage transmission backbone from Townsville to Mount Isa," they said. "It [the cost] is a reflection the original plan did not include major network extensions, including works to connect mining and renewable energy projects." Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki last month said the government would "save" the project. Mr Janetski will deliver the keynote speech to the Energy Club in Brisbane on Tuesday. "This is an important project for the north, and contrary to what Labor would have done, we will save it," he said.