Question regarding the Pilbara Underground Power Project's expenditure, cost blowouts, funding sources, and the Shire of Roebourne's involvement. The answer details costs, funding, and reasons for the project's necessity and cost increases.

AnsweredQoN 1255Legislative Council
Asked
17 June 2014
Portfolio
Energy

QuestionView source ↗

I refer
to the Pilbara Underground Power Project and the Pilbara Underground Power
Project Steering Committee, the 2014-15 Budget Papers and the Pilbara News article "Shire to pay Horizon more", of 15 Janunary 2014, and I ask: (a) what
has been the expenditure to date for the Pilbara Underground Power Project, and
from where
have those funds been sourced, by amount; (b) what
will be the final projected expenditure for the Pilbara Underground Power
Project, and from where
will those funds have been sourced, by amount; (c) by how much has the project blown out since its
inception; (d) what has been the cause of
those blow outs by
item and amount; (e) what will be the
total amount of the Shire of
Roebourne’s fiscal involvement in the Pilbara Underground Power
Project; (f) what will be the cost to the
ratepayers, by
household, of the Shire of Roebourne’s fiscal involvement in the Pilbara
Underground Power Project; (g) which
communities, businesses and industries are serviced by the Pilbara Underground
Power Project; (h) what is the function
of the Pilbara Underground
Power Project Steering Committee; (i) how
have the funds allocated to the Pilbara
Underground Power Project Steering Committee been expended to date; (j) are any further funds to be allocated to the
Pilbara Underground Power Project Steering Committee and, if so, how
much; (k) why is the Shire of Roebourne,
and thereby the ratepayers, contributing to the funding of the Pilbara
Underground Power Project; (l) what has
been the cost to Hamersley Iron (Rio
Tinto) in relation to power outages associated with lightning storms and
cyclones in the last ten years; (m) was
compensation sought by any companies of the
power providers in relation to power outages associated with lightning storms
and cyclones in the last ten years; (n)
if yes to (m), what was the amount sought; and (o) if yes to (m), was an amount paid and what was that
amount?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
13 August 2014
Responded by
Leader of the House representing the Minister for Energy
Response time
57 days
(a) $130 Million, with $100 Million from Royalties for Regions, $11.2 from Town of Port Hedland and $18.8 Million from City of Karratha (Formerly Shire of Roebourne.)
(b) Final cost will be $230 Million. The extra $100 Million has come from $75 Million from Royalties for Regions, $7.2 Million from Horizon Power, $1.9 Million from Shire of Ashburton and $15.8 Million from City of Karratha (Formerly Shire of Roebourne.)
(c) $100 Million compared to the original budget.
(d) Cost escalations in the Pilbara by $100 Million due to increased labour, rent and contractor hire costs.
(e) $34.6 Million
(f) Horizon Power cannot comment on charges levied by the Shire of Roebourne
(g) Karratha, South Hedland, Wedgefield, Onslow and Roebourne.
(h) To provide oversight to the project by all interested parties and to ensure the project and funding is managed in a judicious manner.
(i) No funds have been allocated to the Pilbara Underground Power Project Steering Committee to date.
(j) No
(k) The Shire of Roebourne agreed to fund part of the project due to the proven benefits of underground power to their ratepayers during periods of extreme weather such as Cyclones. Contribution by ratepayers to underground power is a proven business model Australia and internationally.
(l) Horizon Power is not privy to this information; however we can confirm that they have not sought compensation from Horizon Power.
(m) yes noting Horizon Power only has records from April 2006.
(n) This information is not readily available as it is recorded manually. Retrieval would be time consuming and therefore expensive.
(o) $635,582 since April 2006

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