Mr ELFERINK - 1998-04-23
I sent him a letter some months ago about the intermittent power supply in the Ilparpa Road area, south of Alice Springs. What is being done in relation to that?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member did indeed write to me and we have had a few discussions on this subject. In the 6 months to the end of January 1998,
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some 38 power interruptions were experienced by the people who live south of Heavitree Gap. Of these, only 8 related to equipment or plant failure. The other 30 interruptions were caused by storms, trees and bird activity. All these events are documented by the Power and Water Authority. At the time, the residents south of Heavitree Gap expressed their dissatisfaction with the service that they were receiving, or rather not receiving, from the Power and Water Authority.
The authority acknowledged that the number of interruptions to supply was greater than it should have been. After looking at all the external elements, such as the storms, the trees and the birds, it initiated a program to minimise interruptions to the supply resulting from these external elements. Suprisingly, given the strange weather patterns over the past year or so in central Australia, one of the major problems was the accumulation of dust on the insulators. That caused lines to short out. I believe the authority now has a new style of insulator or a system that stops this problem. In any event, there has been a major review of programs relating to the area. The regional director of PAWA in Alice Springs, John Baskerville, told me that the authority was spending nearly $0.2m on upgrading some of the problem areas in that region. Given the good work that has been done, I am sure the residents of the area will see a marked decrease in the number of interruptions.
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ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the member did indeed write to me and we have had a few discussions on this subject. In the 6 months to the end of January 1998,
Page 202
some 38 power interruptions were experienced by the people who live south of Heavitree Gap. Of these, only 8 related to equipment or plant failure. The other 30 interruptions were caused by storms, trees and bird activity. All these events are documented by the Power and Water Authority. At the time, the residents south of Heavitree Gap expressed their dissatisfaction with the service that they were receiving, or rather not receiving, from the Power and Water Authority.
The authority acknowledged that the number of interruptions to supply was greater than it should have been. After looking at all the external elements, such as the storms, the trees and the birds, it initiated a program to minimise interruptions to the supply resulting from these external elements. Suprisingly, given the strange weather patterns over the past year or so in central Australia, one of the major problems was the accumulation of dust on the insulators. That caused lines to short out. I believe the authority now has a new style of insulator or a system that stops this problem. In any event, there has been a major review of programs relating to the area. The regional director of PAWA in Alice Springs, John Baskerville, told me that the authority was spending nearly $0.2m on upgrading some of the problem areas in that region. Given the good work that has been done, I am sure the residents of the area will see a marked decrease in the number of interruptions.
Page 203
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016