THERE has been a push for urgent action to address ongoing power reliability issues affecting communities within the area.
During the last parliament sitting, Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland raised the growing frustration of local residents and businesses who continue to experience frequent and prolonged power outages, placing significant strains on households, farms and local industries.
Ms Cleeland said the ongoing disruptions were unacceptable and called on the Minister for Energy, Lily D’Ambrosio to use the full extent of her powers to drive a resolution.
“Our communities have endured far too many outages and interruptions for far too long,” Ms Cleeland said.
Just weeks ago, Kilmore and Wallan communities were left furious after multiple power outages within the span of a few days.
“Families, businesses and farmers deserve a reliable electricity supply, yet many across our region continue to experience repeated disruptions with little confidence that the problem is being addressed.” Ms Cleeland said.
“I made it clear to the Minister that our communities expect action, not excuses. The government has a responsibility to ensure electricity providers are delivering the reliable service regional Victorians deserve.”
The Review contacted the Ms D’ambrosio’s office for comments on the situation at hand, and although didn’t receive direct comments from the Minister, gained these from a Government Spokesperson.
“Victorians deserve a reliable electricity supply, that’s why we’ve acted to strengthen accountability and improve network resilience with new reforms that require distribution businesses to deliver legally enforceable five-year network resilience plans, outlining measures they will take to prevent and respond in power outage emergencies.”
“These reforms make sure electricity companies are held accountable for preparing for and responding to severe weather and network failures. Businesses that fail to meet their obligations can face civil penalties.”
The Government believe the changes will increase the level of reliability for people of the community.
“These changes will help deliver a more reliable electricity network for households, businesses, and emergency services, while reducing the long-term cost of outages and disaster recovery for Victorian communities.”
AusNet is reportedly responsible for maintaining the distribution network in the area, and has advised that the outage affecting the Kilmore region was triggered by an equipment fault in Kilmore East.