An inquiry into a blackout which plunged thousands of people into darkness in outback New South Wales has found communication to affected residents was inadequate. The report made more than a dozen recommendations to the government which authorities hope will be adopted quickly to prevent future damages.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00When a severe thunderstorm struck Broken Hill last year, it was lights out.
00:07Described by residents as a possible tornado, the storm knocked out seven transition towers in October.
00:14One of two emergency generators was not in service, and the other wasn't fully operational,
00:21triggering weeks of rolling blackouts.
00:23The impacts were far-reaching.
00:25Thousands of residents from Broken Hill and surrounding towns left waiting in darkness.
00:31We've lost fridges and food and not been able to go to work.
00:36You couldn't make a cup of tea, you couldn't do anything.
00:39A six-month parliamentary report into the incident has now been tabled in New South Wales Parliament.
00:45Twenty recommendations were made to the government,
00:48including to consider granting the electricity pricing regulator
00:52the power to order a network operator to compensate affected customers.
00:57It also found supplier Transgrid failed to notify any government agency
01:02that one of two gas turbine generators were offline before the storm,
01:08but also said there was no clear obligation for them to do so.
01:12If you've got two generators that are meant to fire up,
01:15and one of them is currently out of action, you need to flag that with someone.
01:20The inquiry's chairman says developing a communication strategy to contact residents
01:26who were left without phone service is critical.
01:29These extreme weather events like the windstorm that blew down Seven Towers
01:34are going to get more frequent and more intense, so the risk is still in place.
01:39A spokesperson from Transgrid says they're examining the findings and recommendations
01:44and have been working with community and businesses to assist in the recovery.
01:48The government has six months to respond to the recommendations.