In Broken Hill rolling blackouts have mostly stopped and mains power is expected to be reconnected in the coming days, two weeks after a massive windstorm downed transmission towers, leaving 20,000 residents in the region without power.
Life though has not completely returned to normal. Mine workers have been stood down and investigations have been launched into electricity operator Transgrid.
After the storm, the region has suffered with rolling blackouts due to one backup generator being offline for maintenance, leaving the other unable to cope with demand.
Transgrid has a responsibility to provide back-up power if the lines go down but Broken Hill Mayor Tom Kennedy alleges the generators weren’t adequately maintained.
A fallen transmission tower lies in the red dirt near Broken Hill. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)
“There was only one generator that was put under extreme amount of load,” Mayor Kennedy told 7.30.
“Once that was put under load, that also tripped out and we were in a situation where some people in town were without power for 48 hours, others just over 24 hours.
“It was really lack of maintenance on generators that are worth probably $50 million each.”
Transgrid Executive General Manager of Network Marie Jordan denied that was the case.
“Maintenance was not neglected as a cost cutting measure,” Ms Jordan told 7.30.
“Our maintenance plan requires an annual inspection of the lines, 13,000 kilometres of line. We usually do it by drone or plane.
“Every six years we’re required to do what they call a detailed inspection, which requires somebody to climb the towers and look for defects or problems. We did that with the Broken Hill line in 2021 and at the completion of that, there were no findings.”
Marie Jordan is the Executive General Manager for Transgrid’s network. (ABC News: Jerry Rickard)
She said issues with the generator’s bearing casings risked its turbine catastrophically failing, forcing it to be repaired.
“We found problems with it [the first generator] that would create a huge safety event while it was running,” she told 7.30.
“We were ordering parts to get it put back into service.”
Temporary transmission towers have been built and a patchwork of generators is powering the region. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)
Ms Jordan said Transgrid bought the second generator from Essential Energy in 2022 and suggested it may not have been properly maintained.
“It appeared that maintenance hadn’t been done on a regular basis before we acquired those generators,” she said.
She added that the backup generators undergo regular testing every two months, but didn’t confirm whether the company had formally reported to the Regional Emergency Management Committee that one generator was offline.
An Essential Energy spokesperson told 7.30 that “Transgrid undertook technical due diligence before purchasing the generators to understand the condition the generators were in”.
Investigations underway
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) are both investigating Transgrid to determine whether the company breached its obligations or license requirements.
If findings are made against Transgrid, AER can fine the company up to 10 per cent of its annual turnover, estimated to be up to $90 million. IPART fines for any breaches could be up to $250,000 or involve changes to Transgrid’s license conditions.
IPART investigator Jonathan Coppel spent two days on the ground in Broken Hill looking into the outages.
Fines for any breaches could range from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)
“There are many questions we want to get to the bottom of to understand more clearly the facts that led to the power outage,” he said.
He said IPART was not notified that one of Transgrid’s backup generators was down.
“We will be requiring maintenance logs from Transgrid to help us piece together what actually happened and when,” he added.
While the region is expected to be reconnected to the grid as early as this weekend, it’s anticipated the IPART investigation and report will be completed in six weeks.
Mines at standstill
While restoration works continue, the mines that drive Broken Hill’s economy remain shut, with 600 workers stood down.
Mining in Broken Hill has stopped due to safety concerns. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)
Russell Miller is a labour hire contractor suffering now without work or pay.
“I’ve been told that I’ll be stood down for probably five weeks, to be prepared for that,” he said.
“$1,500 a week — that’s what it costs me.”
Russell Miller is an underground truck driver at one of the local mines. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)
The NSW government has announced $200 relief payments for households and $400 for businesses. Premier Chris Minns has written to his federal counterparts asking for further emergency assistance.
Mr Miller feels there is more the federal government could do to support his community.
“If this was a suburb of Sydney, if this was Wollongong, if this was in a perceived better socio-economic area, there’d be a lot more and lot more support,” he said.
Transgrid says power could be fully restored by the weekend but it may be weeks before businesses here return to normal operations. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)
“If we had a pretty emotive picture of a flood or a fire, people would care more.”
“The rest of the country doesn’t even know about it.”
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