❓ Mr. Blayney questions the Minister for Energy about the delayed review of the extended outage payment scheme. The Minister acknowledges the delay, provides context on the scheme's history, and highlights future improvements through the energy transformation strategy.
AnsweredQoN 684Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN POWER —
EXTENDED OUTAGE PAYMENT SCHEME
684. Mr
I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the minister's
commitment to review the extended outage payment scheme by 31 July 2020.
(1) Has Energy
Policy WA's review been completed as the minister promised; and, if so,
does the minister have a copy?
(2) If yes to
(1), what were the outcomes of the review?
EXTENDED OUTAGE PAYMENT SCHEME
684. Mr
I.C. BLAYNEY to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the minister's
commitment to review the extended outage payment scheme by 31 July 2020.
(1) Has Energy
Policy WA's review been completed as the minister promised; and, if so,
does the minister have a copy?
(2) If yes to
(1), what were the outcomes of the review?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you very much, member. Those
are good questions.
(1)–(2) No;
the review is not complete. It is true that the only time this payment has
increased has been when a Labor government has been in power, because, of
course, the last time it was increased was the last time a Labor government was
in power. It is important to remember that the payment is not a compensation
payment; it is simply an inconvenience payment made by Western Power. That
means it is a payment made by other users of the electricity system to those
who have had interruptions. There is no question that the further people are
from the main source of energy in Muja, the less reliable their power is, and
the reason for that is simply physics—the further an electron has to
travel down a wire, the less reliable it will be at the other end of that wire.
That is a tragic event of physics.
The member's electorate will
enjoy some advantages from new technologies that we are moving to deploy. The
whole purpose of the energy transformation strategy is to move towards making
sure that we can improve the supply of electricity to communities across the
south west interconnected system. We continue to roll out the arrangements
flowing out of the energy transformation strategy, and we are about to make some further announcements about matters
that have recently arisen from the ETS. That review has not come to my
desk at this time, but as I emphasised, the last time the payment was increased
was by a Labor government, and I expect that the next time it is increased it
will also be by a Labor government.
are good questions.
(1)–(2) No;
the review is not complete. It is true that the only time this payment has
increased has been when a Labor government has been in power, because, of
course, the last time it was increased was the last time a Labor government was
in power. It is important to remember that the payment is not a compensation
payment; it is simply an inconvenience payment made by Western Power. That
means it is a payment made by other users of the electricity system to those
who have had interruptions. There is no question that the further people are
from the main source of energy in Muja, the less reliable their power is, and
the reason for that is simply physics—the further an electron has to
travel down a wire, the less reliable it will be at the other end of that wire.
That is a tragic event of physics.
The member's electorate will
enjoy some advantages from new technologies that we are moving to deploy. The
whole purpose of the energy transformation strategy is to move towards making
sure that we can improve the supply of electricity to communities across the
south west interconnected system. We continue to roll out the arrangements
flowing out of the energy transformation strategy, and we are about to make some further announcements about matters
that have recently arisen from the ETS. That review has not come to my
desk at this time, but as I emphasised, the last time the payment was increased
was by a Labor government, and I expect that the next time it is increased it
will also be by a Labor government.
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