❓ Mr. Redman questions the Minister regarding Walpole's power supply, outage monitoring, service standards, holiday season planning, and a potential backup generator. The Minister provides data, explains service benchmarks, details completed actions, and clarifies Western Power's responsibilities.
AnsweredQoN 5502Legislative Assembly
Asked
24 September 2019
Member
Portfolio
Mines and Petroleum; Energy; Industrial Relations
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to Walpole’s power supply, and commitments given to monitor power supply to the region, and ask: (a) Can the Minister confirm the nature of the data monitoring commitments given during the Walpole community public meeting held earlier this year; (b) Will the Minister release information from data loggers that presumably monitor power outages; (c) Since monitoring has been in place, how many times has Western Power's service not met the minimum service license requirements as established by the Economic Regulation Authority; (d) What planning and provisions has Western Power put in place for the coming summer holiday season, to cater for the likely high numbers of holiday makers to the region; and (e) Will the Minister consider a stand alone diesel generator located in Walpole as a precaution over the summer season, to support essential and emergency services?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
23 October 2019
Responded by
Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Energy; Industrial Relations
Response time
7 days
(a) During the Walpole community meeting, Western Power committed to monitoring network loads in the area.
(b) Western Power has a comprehensive system in place to monitor outages on its network. Outage information for the Walpole feeder (feeder ID “ALB520”) for outages that have occurred in the period May to August 2019 is attached. Western Power has provided the information in a similar format to that provided in response to Parliamentary Question 5116.
(c) Early in 2019 the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) approved Access Arrangement 4 (AA4) which applies to Western Power for the period 2017 to 2022. The following response is provided in the context of AA4. An Access Arrangement is not a licence requirement but a requirement under the Electricity Networks Access Code 2004. As part of AA4, Service Standard Benchmarks (SSB) are set by the ERA which include, among other things, measures of reliability of supply. The Distribution SSBs apply on a whole-of-network basis and not on an individual feeder basis.
The SSBs for feeders classified as “Rural Long” (greater than 200km in length) are as follows:
The feeder to Walpole originates from the Albany zone substation and is classified as “Rural Long”. The performance of this feeder in the twelve months ending August 2019 is shown in the table below. For comparison purposes, the AA4 SSBs for all “Rural Long” feeders are also shown.
Service
Standard
Benchmark
AA4 Benchmark set by ERA for all “Rural Long” feeders
Actual performance for Walpole feeder (ALB520)
SAIDI (minutes)
848.3
796
SAIFI (interruptions)
5.7
7.25
Reliability of supply measures are also included in the Electricity Industry (Network Quality and Reliability of Supply) Code 2005 (NQRS Code). While licence requirements of the NQRS Code are overseen by the ERA, they are not established by the ERA. The graphs show the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), respectively. SAIDI indicates the total number of minutes, on average, that a customer on a distribution network is without electricity in a year. SAIFI indicates the average number of times a customer’s electricity supply is interrupted per year.
(d) As mentioned in the response provided earlier this year to Parliamentary Question 5116, Western Power had completed and planned a number of actions as a result of the outages over the 2019 Easter/School Holiday period. The actions have all been completed as follows:
The above actions are expected to improve the reliability of supply to Walpole, Peaceful Bay and surrounding districts and mitigate the risk of outages occurring again in circumstances similar to those over the 2019 Easter/School Holiday period. Further work to reinforce a part of the low voltage network at Peaceful Bay is proposed and Western Power is endeavouring to complete it prior to the coming summer holiday season.
(e) Decision on technical developments of the network are the responsibility of the Board and management of Western Power.
(b) Western Power has a comprehensive system in place to monitor outages on its network. Outage information for the Walpole feeder (feeder ID “ALB520”) for outages that have occurred in the period May to August 2019 is attached. Western Power has provided the information in a similar format to that provided in response to Parliamentary Question 5116.
(c) Early in 2019 the Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) approved Access Arrangement 4 (AA4) which applies to Western Power for the period 2017 to 2022. The following response is provided in the context of AA4. An Access Arrangement is not a licence requirement but a requirement under the Electricity Networks Access Code 2004. As part of AA4, Service Standard Benchmarks (SSB) are set by the ERA which include, among other things, measures of reliability of supply. The Distribution SSBs apply on a whole-of-network basis and not on an individual feeder basis.
The SSBs for feeders classified as “Rural Long” (greater than 200km in length) are as follows:
The feeder to Walpole originates from the Albany zone substation and is classified as “Rural Long”. The performance of this feeder in the twelve months ending August 2019 is shown in the table below. For comparison purposes, the AA4 SSBs for all “Rural Long” feeders are also shown.
Service
Standard
Benchmark
AA4 Benchmark set by ERA for all “Rural Long” feeders
Actual performance for Walpole feeder (ALB520)
SAIDI (minutes)
848.3
796
SAIFI (interruptions)
5.7
7.25
Reliability of supply measures are also included in the Electricity Industry (Network Quality and Reliability of Supply) Code 2005 (NQRS Code). While licence requirements of the NQRS Code are overseen by the ERA, they are not established by the ERA. The graphs show the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), respectively. SAIDI indicates the total number of minutes, on average, that a customer on a distribution network is without electricity in a year. SAIFI indicates the average number of times a customer’s electricity supply is interrupted per year.
(d) As mentioned in the response provided earlier this year to Parliamentary Question 5116, Western Power had completed and planned a number of actions as a result of the outages over the 2019 Easter/School Holiday period. The actions have all been completed as follows:
The above actions are expected to improve the reliability of supply to Walpole, Peaceful Bay and surrounding districts and mitigate the risk of outages occurring again in circumstances similar to those over the 2019 Easter/School Holiday period. Further work to reinforce a part of the low voltage network at Peaceful Bay is proposed and Western Power is endeavouring to complete it prior to the coming summer holiday season.
(e) Decision on technical developments of the network are the responsibility of the Board and management of Western Power.
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