The New South Wales Premier will tomorrow fly to broken hill after a storm destroyed power lines connecting the state's far west region to the energy grid. Chris Minns has declared a supply emergency with rolling blackouts expected for weeks due to a lack of backup generation. An investigation has begun into whether Transgrid has breached its licence conditions amid a political storm over the privatisation of the utility service.
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00:00In Broken Hill, energy security has been shattered.
00:06We've lost fridges and food and not been able to go to work.
00:10You couldn't make a cup of tea, you couldn't do anything.
00:13Storms last Thursday destroyed seven transmission towers.
00:17Transgrid has two generators as backup, but they've failed to keep the lights on.
00:22One was broken and they knew it was broken.
00:25The other one obviously wasn't maintained well enough and that kicked out yesterday.
00:30The sole generator was restored this morning,
00:33but rolling outages are still expected at night as demand peaks.
00:37This day and age you shouldn't have things like that happening.
00:41We're going back a few years I think.
00:43It's not good in 2024.
00:46Whilst all schools reopened today,
00:48the rolling blackouts are making study even more challenging for HSC students.
00:53I'm stressing on a normal day, let alone having no power.
00:56John Perry's two businesses in town have taken a hit.
00:59I would say at least $20,000.
01:02The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal has begun investigating
01:06whether Transgrid breached the reliability standards that are a condition of its licence.
01:11In question time, sparks flew.
01:14Why until now hasn't your government enforced its contracted rights to have Transgrid fix it?
01:19The Liberals and the Nationals privatised Transgrid.
01:24Privatised Transgrid.
01:27You neglected that from your question, didn't you Mr Speaker?
01:30Transgrid refused the ABC's request for an interview
01:34and the company did not respond to questions about claims it failed to repair a backup generator
01:39that broke almost a year ago.
01:41It's just not good enough.
01:43We feel neglected, ignored.
01:47Just because we're far, far west, we shouldn't be treated like second class citizens.
01:53The region will mainly rely on the sole generator until temporary transmission towers are built.
01:59That's not expected until November 6th.