An independent investigation into the Christmas power outages in the Perth, Peel, South-West and Mid-West regions has reported that they may occur more frequently due to the expected impacts of climate change.
Undertaken by Australian Energy Market Commissioner, Michelle Shepherd, the Independent Review of Christmas 2021 Power Outages Final Report found the breakdowns resulted from record-breaking temperatures over the four days from Christmas Eve until 28 December, resulting in high use of air conditioners and fans, which put pressure on the power network.
Commissioner Shepherd said those types of events, while historically rare, might occur more frequently due to the impacts of climate change.
Her recommendations included improving Western Power’s planning and forecasting, its approach to fire risk management and its operational response to extreme weather events.
She also called for improvements to customer and community communications, and greater transparency of reliability issues.
Commissioner Shepherd said the Review found the Government approved all funding requests made by Western Power towards capital improvements to the distribution network over the past five years.
“There is no evidence that investments were delayed or did not occur due to regulatory or Governmental decisions,” Commissioner Shepherd said.
Minister for Energy, Bill Johnston said the Review revealed that 100 per cent power reliability was not possible “but improvements can be made to ensure Western Power is prepared to safely manage future events”.
“Importantly, the Report noted that over the past five years the State Government had approved all funding requests made by Western Power towards capital improvements to the network,” Mr Johnston said.
“I have written to the Western Power Chair asking for a timeline for when the recommendations will be implemented,” he said.
The Minister said Western Power was already preparing for future outages by rolling out batteries, micro-grids, stand-alone power systems and other network improvements.
“I look forward to announcing the progress in improving Western Australia’s electricity network and thank Michelle Shepherd for completing this Review,” Mr Johnston said.
The 73-page independent report can be accessed at this PS News link.
