Communities with a single electricity supply line will be watching closely as a Parliamentary Inquiry opens into the failure of the system in Broken Hill last October.

On October 17, storms wiped out power lines that supplied the Silver City in what would culminate in two weeks without secure power for the 20,000 residents.

Multiple inquiries have followed, with concerns that a lack of maintenance on back-up generators exacerbated the crisis.

Member for Barwon, Roy Butler called on a State Government inquiry into the outages and has been a leading voice in looking at the cause, and how to avoid similar experiences across the electorate.

The Committee on Environment and Planning have already started work into the inquiry and will focus on:

•  the preparation and mitigation strategies in place by electricity providers in Far West NSW in the event of a major electricity outage, 
• the overall effectiveness of the preparation and mitigation strategies, 
• the role of relevant NSW Government agencies and local government in preparing for and responding to major electricity outages, 
• the implementation of recommendations from previous electricity outages in Far West NSW, 
• recommendations on future alternative power supply emergency response and effective redundancy, 
• the effectiveness of providers' communications strategies regarding electricity outages and responses.

In a map provided (below) by Essential Energy, the communities of Bourke, Cobar and Brewarrina are shown to be vulnerable to potential outages, being placed at the end of the supply line, or on single supply lines.

The colour code shows the size of the transmission line and where towns like Dubbo have multiple sources, communities like Brewarrina, have a single supply line, and supply terminates there. 

Mr Butler welcomed all inquiries into the outages, and was part of the initial process in drafting the terms of reference to guide the State Government committee’s work.

“When the power goes out in rural and remote communities, it can impact telecommunications and the ability to contact emergency services,” Mr Butler said.

And he said the power outages seen in Broken Hill should be a learning and avoided at all costs.

“With temperatures reaching what they do out west, air conditioning is essential, particularly for the sick and well-aged. Electrical devices are needed for people with life-threatening illnesses and conditions.

“It impacts business, tourism, and local economies. In the Far West, we had people throwing out perishable items at a significant cost to them personally or their businesses with limited ability to restock. 

“The inquiries are a good start, not just the parliamentary one, but the Australian Energy Regulator and IPART inquiries will go some towards identifying the failure points and providing Essential Energy and transmission network owners with a roadmap to improve,” Mr Butler said.

Essential Energy is also embarking on a Micro Grids and Stand-Alone Power Stations (SAPS) program for isolated customers and communities. This will be phased in over coming years, with Tibooburra and Ivanhoe getting generators with community batteries and solar panels.

Neighbouring communities on watch

General Manager of Cobar Shire Council, Peter Vlatko said he would be watching with interest as the inquiries roll out. “We need to ensure there is not a repeat of what happened in Broken Hill. Our economy here is booming with the mining industry, and the losses incurred in Broken Hill when the power went out, were significant.

“Creating electricity surety is something that we as a Council will be taking a strong focus on,” Mr Vlatko said.

More information

For more information on the Parliamentary inquiry, log on here.

To have input into the IPART inquiry into the outages, log on here.