LEFT IN THE DARK
Western Victoria Region MP Beverley McArthur has highlighted the consequences of today’s power outage in Warrnambool district, and expressed her concerns over the future resilience of power infrastructure in the area.
The blackout, which affected more than 15,000 customers in Warrnambool, also affected homes in Mortlake, Terang, Timboon and Peterborough.
Mrs McArthur said: “At its height, the blackout in Warrnambool CBD brought chaos to businesses of all types – even the traffic lights and parking meters were out.”
“In the busiest week of the year for retailers bar none, this failure was incredibly inconvenient for customers and expensive for business. I have spoken to a number of companies, in retail and in hospitality, who had to cease trading entirely. It hit the whole town - from cafes with one barista who couldn't make a coffee, to the town's biggest employers."
Dean McKenna, General Manager of Midfield Group in Warrnambool said:
“880 staff were left in the dark today, the whole production line was shut down. It’s incredibly disruptive, especially in the run up to Christmas.”
“Not only were we without power for a significant amount of time, but it takes a further thirty to forty-five minutes to restore the plant back to full operation.”
Mrs McArthur continued: “This outage really raises the question, when we need it most will our creaking power infrastructure continue to work?” “How lucky we are it was on a cooler day. What would we have done had this come during Friday’s forecast heat-wave?”
“We’ve seen the warning signs before. Failures like this are just not good enough, but my main concern is for the future. Is this just the beginning?” “It’s extraordinary that this should come just a week after the latest announcement on energy price hikes for customers.”
“Regional Victoria faces rising cost and failing power infrastructure, yet Daniel Andrews’ Labor Government fixates on identity politics and climate scaremongering. It’s high time they started concentrating on real issues like this, not pandering to the Green-inspired agenda of their Melbourne-based cheerleaders.”
17 December 2019