Geraldton power outages another sign of lack of grid investment

The Shadow Minister for Energy Dr Steve Thomas says that the latest power outages in Geraldton are yet another sign that investment in the South West Interconnected grid has not kept up with the needs of regional communities.

“The further you get from Perth the less reliable the supply of electricity becomes, and while the Government can’t be blamed for extreme weather events it is responsible for ensuring the transmission system is reliable” Dr Thomas said.

“The lack of reliability that currently exists in places like Geraldton and Kalgoorlie should have resulted in investment in transmission upgrades by a State Government rolling in mining royalty riches like this one years ago.

“Regional Western Australia deserves energy security as much as Perth, and while I acknowledge that nature has a much greater impact in the regions the existing standard of supply represents years of neglect.

“While the Government has announced $1.2 billion for their Clean Energy Link – North project that will upgrade the existing line from Malaga to Three Springs, the line from Three Springs to Geraldton remains woefully inadequate.

“Clean Energy Link – North will connect new proposed windfarms in the Midwest to Perth but won’t deliver any benefit to Geraldton.

“The Government is investing in its failing transition plan to meet its ideological agenda but is not investing in providing the basic power service that regional communities need to survive and grow” Dr Thomas said.

“The main line through to Geraldton should be a steel pole 330 KV line so that old wooden power poles cannot burn down and let down the Geraldton community.

“And the Clean Energy Link - North project that will see the existing 132KV line from Malaga to Three Springs upgraded to a dual 330KV but does not include upgrades through to Geraldton will still not provide the capacity needed to deliver the State Government’s planned transition line.”