Archaic supply: ‘no power to the people’

Andrew Mathieson
AN ARCHAIC electricity line laid down for returning Second World War servicemen is causing persistent power blackouts for communities north of Geelong, according to a state MP.
David Koch said residents in Lethbridge, Meredith and Bannockburn reported losing electricity 60 times for more than 200 hours in the past 12 months.
The blackouts had also left hundreds of homes without running water.
The Member for Western Victoria believed the single-wire electricity line was never designed to service the region’s fast population growth.
“There is no doubt the existing line is too small and too old and the maintenance required to keep it operational has been forgotten,” Mr Koch said.
Residents had complained to Powercor but it had told them the problem was too expensive to fix, he said.
Mr Koch told state parliament power shortages were a legacy of the Brumby Government’s lax infrastructure replacement.
“Corners have been cut for far too long and it’s time Labor stood up and provided good government and strong leadership to communities that have been left by the wayside,” he said.
A spokesperson for Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor said the Government expected the electricity provider that owned and maintained the networks to provide reliable supply.
“That’s why we have put in place a strong regulatory framework with penalties if the supply of electricity deteriorates,” the spokesperson said.
“In addition, under this framework businesses must make payments to consumers who experience severe or repeated outages.”
Lethbridge’s David Sutherland said blackouts were determining whether families stayed or returned to the town.
“In our case, it’s a very big inconvenience because we rely on power for everything,” Mr Sutherland said.
“When the power goes out at our place there’s nothing we can do – we can’t even get a glass of water.” Mr Sutherland believed governments focussing on the supply of high-speed internet had their priorities wrong.
“It astounds me the number of people talking about the national broadband network when at our place there’s no guaranteed power supply,” he said.