Mitchell Shire residents, last week, were among the 380,000 Victorian homes that had their power switched off as a result of load shedding when all four units at the Loy Yang A power station shut down and wild storms brought down power lines.
The Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO, in somewhat of an understatement, described the outage as ‘a significant power system event’.
An AEMO spokesperson said the cause of the Loy Yang generators shutting down was due to multiple tripping of generation and transmission lines in the state, best described as similar to a faulty toaster tripping a home’s fuse box.
Many people were critical of the level of information and updates from energy supplier Ausnet Servies, saying that it was well below the standard and level of previous outages, and asked if anything was being done to ensure that in any future incident, the same would not occur. Adding to the frustration, the company’s outage tracker app was, at most times, unresponsive.
Local businesses were also impacted with many closing over Tuesday and Wednesday.
Perhaps the resilience of local businesses and the community is best summed up in a Facebook post by local florist, Buds and Branches.
“As a florist, I don’t think I’ve ever been challenged as I was over the past 24 hours. We had the storm, we lost power, the internet and phones. We lost the ability to work and had to down tools and go home. After a stressful night, we were back at daybreak and I’m still unsure to this minute how we did it. But we did. To you, our customers, I am so grateful for your ongoing support. You are superstars,” the post read.
Kilmore’s Caffeine Bar summed up the hospitality industry’s situation in its post; “In the face of adversity Kilmore has shown incredible resilience and support.”
Following the outage, Mitchell Shire Council offered free drop off for spoiled food waste at its Resource Recovery Centres last week for residents and businesses impacted by the extended power outages.
When questioned on the outage, Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio claimed that Victoria was leading the way in energy supply resilience.
“We are ensuring that communities are better prepared for future events,” she said.
State Opposition Leader John Pessutto said that the blackouts highlighted the vulnerability of the state’s energy supplies.
“The situation was not unforeseeable or unavoidable. Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has been repeatedly warned about the vulnerability of the transmission network during weather events by industry experts,” he said.
The energy minister is in the dark about a lot of things.
Where are you Rob? You’re here for us right?
Rob?….. Rob??…..