❓ Mrs Warr asks the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation to double extended outage payments and provide additional emergency relief following widespread power outages during a heatwave. The Minister acknowledges the severity of the event, highlights restoration efforts, and states they will consider the suggestion.
AnsweredQoN 742Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Power outages—Government relief
742. Mrs Kirrilee Warr to
the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to the
widespread power outages across Western Australia in recent days, with some
households left without power for many hours, and in some cases multiple days,
during a heatwave in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, just days before
Christmas. The last time that the state had a similar emergency, in 2024, the extended
outage payments were doubled to $240.
(1) Will the minister undertake to double the
extended outage payment this time, as happened in February 2024?
(2) With families losing hundreds of dollars worth
of food and essentials at the worst possible time of year, will the government
provide additional emergency relief to those affected?
742. Mrs Kirrilee Warr to
the Minister for Energy and Decarbonisation:
I refer to the
widespread power outages across Western Australia in recent days, with some
households left without power for many hours, and in some cases multiple days,
during a heatwave in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, just days before
Christmas. The last time that the state had a similar emergency, in 2024, the extended
outage payments were doubled to $240.
(1) Will the minister undertake to double the
extended outage payment this time, as happened in February 2024?
(2) With families losing hundreds of dollars worth
of food and essentials at the worst possible time of year, will the government
provide additional emergency relief to those affected?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) The Mid West and metropolitan areas
experienced a really extreme weather event on Sunday. It was the most extreme
weather event impacting energy infrastructure and power infrastructure since
the 2010 hailstorm. At the peak we saw about 115,000 customers offline. I
acknowledge that it was a very long day for Geraldton residents in particular.
I have openly said and acknowledged that. It was an extraordinary event that
took out 20 transmission poles from the main transmission line from Three
Springs to Geraldton and it took some time for crews to restart the backup
generators. Western Power and Synergy deployed operational staff at first light
to assess and repair the damage. They moved very, very quickly to do that. It
has been, and continues to be, a large and complex repair job; backup
generation took some time to get back online. I acknowledge that it was a very
long and very uncomfortable day. We worked closely with those agencies to
ensure that they got people back up online as quickly as possible.
I am happy to take that
suggestion under consideration. Obviously, there are processes that we have to
go through that do that, so I want to thank the community for their patience.
The priority has been to restore community services to support hospitals and
schools, and a respite centre was stood up relatively quickly in the town. That
does not necessarily support the outlying towns, acknowledging the member for
Mid-West and some of the challenges in his community. I have to say that this
was an extraordinary event. All the customers who were impacted by that event
on Sunday are back online. That is outside of those people who are experiencing
the bushfires at the moment, but from Sunday's event, all customers are now
back online. The crews worked incredibly hard from first light to get all those
people back online. I acknowledge that it was a very long and uncomfortable day
for those residents.
experienced a really extreme weather event on Sunday. It was the most extreme
weather event impacting energy infrastructure and power infrastructure since
the 2010 hailstorm. At the peak we saw about 115,000 customers offline. I
acknowledge that it was a very long day for Geraldton residents in particular.
I have openly said and acknowledged that. It was an extraordinary event that
took out 20 transmission poles from the main transmission line from Three
Springs to Geraldton and it took some time for crews to restart the backup
generators. Western Power and Synergy deployed operational staff at first light
to assess and repair the damage. They moved very, very quickly to do that. It
has been, and continues to be, a large and complex repair job; backup
generation took some time to get back online. I acknowledge that it was a very
long and very uncomfortable day. We worked closely with those agencies to
ensure that they got people back up online as quickly as possible.
I am happy to take that
suggestion under consideration. Obviously, there are processes that we have to
go through that do that, so I want to thank the community for their patience.
The priority has been to restore community services to support hospitals and
schools, and a respite centre was stood up relatively quickly in the town. That
does not necessarily support the outlying towns, acknowledging the member for
Mid-West and some of the challenges in his community. I have to say that this
was an extraordinary event. All the customers who were impacted by that event
on Sunday are back online. That is outside of those people who are experiencing
the bushfires at the moment, but from Sunday's event, all customers are now
back online. The crews worked incredibly hard from first light to get all those
people back online. I acknowledge that it was a very long and uncomfortable day
for those residents.
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