Parliamentary Committees

Select Committee on Statewide Electricity Blackout and Subsequent Power Outages

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. M.C. Parnell:

That it be an instruction to the Select Committee on Statewide Electricity Blackout and Subsequent Power Outages that its terms of reference be amended by leaving out—

'and

(f) Any other relevant matters.'

And inserting—

'(f) Power outages subsequent to 28 September 2016 including on 27 and 28 December 2016 and 8 February 2017;

(g) The role of power companies, state and national regulators and the state and commonwealth governments in the National Electricity Markets;

(h) Reforms that would improve electricity reliability and affordability in South Australia whilst reducing carbon emissions; and

(i) Any other relevant matters.'

(Continued from 15 February 2017.)

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (16:22): I rise to support this motion on behalf of the government. We support the review of the actions of parties involved in the management of electricity shortfalls. Firstly, I advise the council that ESCOSA has functions under the Electricity Act 1996 for licensing and monitoring the performance of businesses in the electricity and gas supply industries. Businesses that engage in the generation of electricity and operation of a transmission or distribution network fall under the commission's licensing and monitoring regime. The commission's role encompasses the regulation of service reliability standards for SA Power Networks and ElectraNet.

Of course, we know nationally the Australian Energy Regulator is responsible for ensuring market participants, including generators, large businesses, retailers and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), comply with national energy laws and rules. The regulator investigates potential compliance breaches and takes actions to enforce compliance where appropriate. Where the regulator's investigations reveal serious contraventions, court imposed penalties may be warranted. The regulator conducts investigations and collects and maintains evidence on the basis that it may be used in court proceedings.

The government also supports actions to provide an affordable, secure, reliable and safe electricity supply. To promote this, the South Australian government is taking a number of steps. It is procuring 75 per cent of its long-term electricity needs from new generation, which increases competition in the energy market and contributes to power system security. It is also procuring 25 per cent of its long-term electricity needs from new dispatchable renewable energy. We have committed $24 million towards a program to incentivise companies to extract more gas and supply it to South Australian energy markets. We have committed $500,000 towards ElectraNet's assessment of a new high-capacity interconnector between South Australia and the Eastern States in the NEM.

We have also committed $31 million to help large South Australian businesses manage their electricity costs through the Energy Productivity Program. We have changed the national electricity law to enable better monitoring of the electricity wholesale market to ensure a competitive environment. We have submitted a package of rule change proposals to enhance system security and we are advocating for a national emissions intensity scheme to promote orderly transition away from the emission-intensive electricity generation.

The government supports the amendments put forward by the Hon. Mark Parnell in relation to expanding the terms of reference of the Select Committee on Statewide Electricity Blackout and Subsequent Power Outages. We believe that these changes assist in looking at the bigger picture and ensuring that we capture all those issues that have contributed to the instability of our power supply.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (16:26): I rise to speak to the amendment moved by the Hon. Mr Mark Parnell in relation to the terms of reference of the Select Committee on Statewide Electricity Blackout and Subsequent Power Outages. The Hon. Mr Parnell would like to add the subsequent power outages on 27 and 28 December 2016 and 8 February 2017. He then goes on to talk about the role of power companies, state and national regulators and the state and commonwealth governments in the National Electricity Market and reforms that would improve electricity reliability and affordability in South Australia whilst reducing carbon emissions, and then any other relevant matters.

I indicate that the opposition will be happy to support the amendments, but if members recall, the original terms of reference were very much about the original statewide blackout in September; about advice and policy decisions the government had made over the last 15 years that led to a situation where because of a storm, or say a cyclone like they often have in Queensland and Western Australia (where they do not lose the whole state), the whole state lost power; how this all happened; and were there some lessons to be learnt along the way that were not learnt by the government in relation to all those issues? Point (h) of the honourable member's amendment states:

Reforms that would improve electricity reliability and affordability in South Australia whilst reducing carbon emissions;

We have the Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, doing quite a big body of work. He is well resourced by the federal government to do that work. I am sure the government's $30 million policy group, headed up in the Department of State Development, is doing some work on that. I can understand that in the long term that would be important—and as chair I will try to constrain things a little—but I want to make sure that we adhere to the original terms of reference, and we will include the Hon. Mark Parnell's where possible. This is one of the select committees that needs to report by the end of the year; we cannot let it drift along.

I am more than happy to have some expanded terms of reference, and I said this at our meeting the other day. A lot of them would have been covered under the original 'Any other relevant matters', but at the end of the day, the member has moved the amendment and we are all happy to support it. However, I do not want to smother, if you like, the select committee with people's plans for what we can do in the next 20 or 30 years when the original terms of reference were really about the here and now: why did it happen, how did it happen, and are there any immediate changes we can make to ensure that it will not happen again? With those words, I support the amendment.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (16:31): Thank you, Mr Acting President. Sincere apologies for the delay and thank you to the council for its indulgence. The Dignity Party will support the motion, including the Hon. Mr Parnell's amendments. We would also like to raise some additional points for the select committee to consider under the banner, potentially, of 'any other relevant matters'. These points are, I am sure, unsurprising to members, as we have been raising them with the government both in meetings and in person, and also through the media.

They include the impact of statewide blackouts and blackouts lasting many days on people reliant on electricity for life-saving and life-sustaining equipment—such as ventilators for breathing and therefore to stay alive—and emergency planning for these people, including standing instructions on what to do in these circumstances. We are particularly concerned about the apparent inconsistent information that was being given out between local government and state government as to exactly where people should go if they needed backup electricity for something like a ventilator or an electric wheelchair, for example.

They also include the impact on people with sensory disabilities reliant on television or film or video rather than radio, due to being deaf or hard of hearing, and also on people at the other end of the spectrum who might be reliant on radio broadcasts rather than television, due to a visual impairment, to know what is happening during emergencies and electricity blackouts. More broadly, they include the impact on people with disabilities or people with health conditions who need electricity to operate not only life-sustaining equipment but other disability or medical related equipment, such as hoists to get in and out of bed, on and off the toilet, or in and out of an armchair, for example, or even to power a blender to allow for PEG feeding.

We certainly support the motion. We understand that power blackouts are not convenient or good for anyone when it comes to personal lifestyle or business in this state, but I also want to highlight that there is a section of the community that has particular needs that are not always fully understood or remembered, so we would love to see those on the agenda as well. With those few words, I indicate our support for the motion as amended by the Hon. Mr Parnell.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (16:33): I would like to thank the Hon. David Ridgway, the Hon. Gail Gago and the Hon. Kelly Vincent for their indication of support for this motion. I also indicate that I have had private indications of support from the Hon. Rob Brokenshire. As a member of the committee, I understand that he has no problem with it.

I think these amendments are, at one level, routine. They are, as the Hon. David Ridgway said, very likely just elucidating things that we were going to be doing anyway. I make a couple of additional observations. I agree with the Hon. David Ridgway that this committee will need to report by the end of the year.

It is always the danger with committees formed in the last year before an election that unless the committee is vigilant it can let its work get away with it and not meet sufficiently to come to a conclusion. I hope that is not the case here. It is certainly not my intention to bog the committee down with unnecessary work. I would like to see us report and I think the people of South Australia expect that of us.

The Hon. Kelly Vincent mentioned that when we are considering 'any other relevant matters', we do have a cohort of people for whom energy is not just a convenience, but it can be life or death. In response to the honourable member, I note that one of our pre-existing terms of reference was to do with the cost of blowouts. I think that cost also includes the potential cost, which refers to life preserving, lifesaving and enabling considerations.

The Hon. Gail Gago mentioned ESCOSA, the Essential Services Commission. I am pleased to tell the chamber that ESCOSA will be one of our first witnesses; in fact, they will be here on Friday. I look forward to talking to them.

I mention by way of an aside, and it is something that I have raised in the past, but I will raise it again, I think it would be good practice for this parliament to do what other parliaments do, especially the Victorian parliament, where they routinely notify the world at large of upcoming hearings for select committees and for standing committees; they advertise the rooms that they will be held in and they advertise in advance the witnesses that are going to be heard. I subscribe, for example, to the Victorian parliament's notification service and I get a ping in my inbox telling me the latest inquiry that is being held and the witnesses that are coming along.

Members interjecting:

The ACTING PRESIDENT (Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins): Order! The Hon. Mr Parnell, my advice is that a discussion on the way the committee would operate is not a matter for the council now.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: No, and I thank you, Mr Acting President, for bringing me back on track. The barbs of the Leader of the Government are off a duck's back; they don't hurt me. I am just making the point that ESCOSA will be coming along to the committee. I am hoping that the public will pay attention to the work of this committee, it is an important committee, and the public is looking for answers to make sure that our electricity supply is reliable and that it is sustainable and affordable.

As the Hon. David Ridgway said, those words, to a certain extent, mirror what the Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel is doing. He refers to it as his 'trilemma'—not a dilemma, because there are three elements: we want our power to be reliable, we want it to be affordable, and we want it to not impact on the planet in terms of carbon emissions in particular.

With those few words, I thank all members for their support and I look forward to these words being incorporated into the terms of reference for the select committee.

Motion carried.