Broken Hill and Far West communities back on the power grid

Homes and businesses in the Far West region of NSW are once again connected to the state’s primary power supply, following the restoration of a major transmission line.

A severe storm on Thursday 17 October destroyed seven Transgrid transmission towers causing significant disruption to the supply of electricity to Broken Hill and remote communities including Tibooburra, Wilcannia, Menindee, White Cliffs, Milparinka, Packsaddle and Silverton.

These communities were powered by a network of generators while Transgrid crews worked around the clock to construct replacement towers and restore the transmission line.

During the transition from generators back to the main power supply at 8.41 pm (ACDT) last night, Broken Hill did not experience a power outage.

Remote communities outside Broken Hill were without power for 22 minutes when they were taken off Essential Energy’s generators at 10.04 pm and moved to the main grid, a much shorter outage than expected.

Transgrid has committed to keeping additional generation support in Broken Hill until it has both large-scale back-up generators in a position to ensure the uninterrupted supply of electricity.

This situation should never have happened. It’s unacceptable that such a remote part of the state could be left without a reliable source of power.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal and the Australian Energy Regulator have commenced inquiries into Transgrid’s compliance with its regulatory obligations.

Thank you to the people of Broken Hill and surrounding communities for their patience while living and working through the uncertainty, and I look forward to visiting again soon for Community Cabinet.

There is a wide range of support available to residents and businesses as they recover from power outages, including the NSW Government’s $200 payments which have now been extended to all adults, food and fuel vouchers, a range of services via Recovery Assistance Points and 2,000 food hampers. Energy retailers and banks are also offering support.

I wish to thank the many workers from Transgrid, Essential Energy and the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water who worked around the clock for two weeks to restore power to homes and businesses in one of the most remote parts of the state.

The NSW government’s coordinated emergency response involved a range of agencies to make sure communities were safe and supported:

• NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
• NSW Police Force
• NSW Rural Fire Service
• NSW State Emergency Service
• NSW Health
• Ambulance NSW
• Education NSW
• Fire and Rescue NSW
• Transport NSW
• Telco Authority

I also thank Member for Barwon Roy Butler and other community leaders who worked closely with the NSW Government to support residents in this time of hardship. For the latest updates and advice visit www.energy.nsw.gov.au/disruption