Love slams regional power inaction

Opposition leader Shane Love says the state government’s inaction on regional power risk has left thousands vulnerable, as fallout from this week’s storm damage continues.

Around 8,800 outages remained across the state's power network as of this afternoon, as crews continue work to restore lines damaged in unprecedented storms this week.

More than 10,000 homes and businesses had power restored overnight, in Kalgoorlie, Merridan and Kellerberrin, but the fallout remains widespread.

Premier Roger Cook predicted this morning that some outages could extend as far as Sunday, as the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts temperatures as high as the mid-40s in parts of the Goldfields over the weekend.

“The main transmission line that supplies Kalgoorlie sustained significant damage from the storm front, and there were five transmission towers that were downed, with repairs expected to take a matter of days,” Mr Cook said.

“To give you an idea of the severity of these storms, the towers as you’re aware are well over fifty metres high.

“They crumpled like tin foil with the strength of these particular storms, unprecedented … in both their ferocity and focus.”

The premier conceded two Synergy-run gas fuelled emergency turbines in Kalgoorlie tripped initially because there was no access to any power to start them up. Kalgoorlie's power supply is connected to the main grid via a 220-kilovolt transmission line. 

“My understanding is that the complete outage of the area was a very rare event,” Mr Cook said.

“So when those backup generators were switched on, they automatically tripped, because there was literally nothing in the system.

“What they were then able to do was introduce a level of power coming from other parts of the grid, which then enabled those generators to contribute and ultimately resolve the issue.”

Storm damage to transmission lines in Kalgoorlie. Photo: Western Power

Mr Love took aim at the government this morning on parliament’s steps, as he called for a review into regional power supply.

“I believe the government has had, time and time again, over the past six or seven years, situations where we’ve had power supply interruptions in regional Western Australia – in communities such as Kalgoorlie and communities such as Geraldton, the Mid West and the like, and right across rural communities,” Mr Love said.

“We have seen nothing which is actually preventing these disruptions in communities going forward.”

WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam highlighted the warnings included in the past two budget papers that a lack of investment in network infrastructure could cause reliability issues at times of crisis. 

"Those warnings have become a reality and as a result, the reality for thousands of Western Australians is no power, no water, no phone access and in some cases no fuel, while hundreds of businesses have lost thousands of dollars," she said. 

Mr Love said in the case of Kalgoorlie, the government needed to explore the ability to tap privately owned power generators.

The opposition leader praised the work of teams repairing the transmission lines damaged in the storm, but expressed concern for those still without power.

“I know how distressing this is for people who might have medical conditions,” Mr Love said.

“It may be that medications held by pharmacies become unusable, and the heat itself becomes a threat to communities.

“Then of source, there’s food security, and in some cases if water supply is interrupted because there’s no pumps etcetera then there becomes sanitation issues as well.

“Power is essential, and ensuring that power is in the community, is essential.”

A one-off Western Power $120 compensation payment for power outages lasting longer than 12 hours has been doubled for those impacted by the storm damage.

“That is still a drop in the ocean compared to the losses of residents, and also businesses,” Mr Love said.

A climate resilience package was announced this afternoon by Environment Minister Reece Whitby, who said work had already started on securing the future of the state's power grid after a weather event he described as being "worse than Cyclone Seroja", the 2021 storm that caused extensive damage to the state's Mid West. 

"This package will explore a range of solutions to ensure electricity, infrastructure and communities can withstand the effects of climate change," he said. 

"There's already plenty of work under way on design and development for the future of our electricity systems, and I will work with my energy and environment departments on this package as a matter of priority."