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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-10-19 Daily Xml
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Motions

Power Outages

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (16:07): I move:

1. That a select committee of the Legislative Council be established to inquire into the statewide electricity blackout of Wednesday 28 September 2016 and subsequent power outages with particular reference to—

(a) causes of the blackout;

(b) delays in recovering electricity supply to all parts of the state;

(c) credible warnings of the potential for such an event;

(d) costs to households, businesses and the South Australian economy as a whole due to the blackout;

(e) lessons learnt from the blackout; and

(f) any other relevant matters.

2. That standing order 389 be so far suspended as to enable the chairperson of the committee to have a deliberative vote only.

3. That this council permits the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it sees fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to such evidence being presented to the council.

4. That standing order 396 be suspended to enable strangers to be admitted when the select committee is examining witnesses unless the committee otherwise resolves, but they shall be excluded when the committee is deliberating.

I am on my feet to speak to the motion to establish a select committee that will inquire into the statewide electricity blackout of Wednesday 28 September 2016. Members who were in the chamber that day will recall that the lights flicked, and flicked a couple more times, and then at one stage we were in complete darkness in this chamber.

I think it was the Hon. Tammy Franks who may have been speaking, but she did not draw breath, so it did not impede her contribution at the time. Eventually the lights came back on and of course we have a generator in the roof—I have seen it but I am not sure how big it is—which means that parliament was still able to function for a little while, at least, until it was closed down.

The minister today accused everybody of wanting to bash renewable energy and take sides in all this. That is not the intent of this select committee. It is interesting that the Premier, certainly, came out straightaway and said that it was all because we had a freak storm which had blown down the powerlines. I am sure that, in the end, that is not going to be the case. This government in this whole process has been looking to pass the buck and absolve itself of responsibility. This blackout left the whole state—more than 1.7 million people—without power. In a modern First World country and economy, it is hard to believe that we can have a system where a storm event can take out all the power.

Look at what happens in north-western and Western Australia and Queensland with cyclones. We may have had some particularly strong winds up in the Mid North but, if you look at some of the cyclones, Tropical Cyclone Yasi was, I think, one of the biggest ever to hit Australia, and it covered thousands of kilometres of coastline. The eye of the thing was probably many tens of kilometres across. I am sure it would have destroyed infrastructure. I think the winds were up around 300 kilometres an hour. We had a storm here where there was some discussion about twin tornadoes. I have seen the damage with the member for Stuart, Dan van Holst Pellekaan, and it is quite substantial but very localised.

I know that Brisbane is not blacked out when north Queensland loses power. Perth is not blacked out when the Pilbara or the Top End or the northern parts of Western Australia are blacked out. It is interesting that in a First World country—and, we think, an important state in this great country—we can have a weather event that blacks out the whole state. I do not know whether South Australia was a joke. I think it is a bit far-fetched to say that we were the laughing stock of the nation, but people were scratching their head and saying, 'How can this happen in this modern world? What have South Australians done wrong in their electricity planning and management of their network that a storm event can black out the whole state?'

It is interesting to listen to the minister talk about renewables. He claims that we are not supporters of renewable energy and that we want to bash renewable energy, but the Premier boiled the whole argument down to renewables versus coal, asking 'Which do you support?' In doing so, the Premier insulted the intelligence of voters. This is a far more complex issue than a three-word political slogan and it deserves and requires a technical analysis.

I will speak to each of the five or six terms of reference in turn. The first is the cause of the blackout. I make it very clear from the outset that this select committee, which I hope I will chair, is not going to be a renewable energy witch-hunt. I think the inquiry should be contained to probably the last 10 years of government policy. Minister Hunter today said that it was in 2003 that they started the transition to a low-carbon economy. I think we need to have a look at that transition and the preparedness or the work the government did to make sure that this system was protected as we go into this low-carbon economy.

The government has been trying to shift the blame all along. The state government would have South Australians believe that it was the transmission lines that went down 250 kilometres north of Adelaide and that it is acceptable that an entire state would lose power because of those transmission lines. The people of South Australia deserve to know the exact cause of the blackout and whether it is ever likely to occur again.

One of the things we need to have a look at is that this is the first big storm we have had since our base load generator closed. Does that mean that, when the three powerlines blew down, the system simply could not operate on one powerline, or was it the case, as we have seen in the AEMO report today, that nine of the 13 wind farms stopped producing, which led to the frequency drop, which led to the interconnector cutting us off?

Point (b) in the terms of reference states, 'Delays in recovering electricity supply to all parts of the State'. As members would know, much of metropolitan Adelaide came back some time during the night or in the early hours of the morning. The city was in gridlock; there were people stuck in lifts; there were people stuck in their homes. It was a phenomenon that we have never experienced before in South Australia, where the whole state goes into what they call a black event or an event black—I cannot remember the exact title, but something to do with black.

We saw the people on Eyre Peninsula who were not so fortunate, some of whom were without power for days after the event. Again, that is not acceptable. That is an important regional community. The Premier flew over there to talk to those people. It is not acceptable that in a modern First World country we can have a big regional centre, an important one, the biggest fishing port in the southern hemisphere, not have mains electricity. It beggars belief that the system could be so poorly managed that when we have an event we end up with a situation like that. These people, along with the rest of South Australia, need to know why there were such long delays in recovering electricity.

Point (c) in the terms of reference is, 'Credible warnings of the potential for such an event'. I am reminded of when I was on the Environment, Resources and Development Committee, I think it was in 2003, with the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis—although perhaps then I think he was just Mr Tom Koutsantonis MP; he was not a minister in those days, otherwise he would not have been on that committee. We were looking at the Starfish Hill development. It was the first of all the wind farms, from my recollection. We had a number of people give us evidence to say 'great wind resource', 'probably pretty good location because it is somewhat isolated'.

Maybe there were some people complaining about the visual destruction of the Fleurieu Peninsula, but by and large it did not affect too many people, as there were not many people living there, and so it was one of those things that we were all quite supportive of. We received evidence that renewable energy, and wind power in particular, is very good, but you have to limit the amount that you have. You could make your network unstable and you actually have to plan for that to be integrated into your system.

We were given that advice in 2003. That honourable member is now the Treasurer and also the Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy. In fact, the Hon. Gail Gago was on the same committee and she was a Legislative Council representative on that committee as well. So, you have two ministers in this government who were present at one of the very early meetings when the government's interest in renewable energies started and we were warned that you needed to make sure that the system could cope with it.

I made the comment earlier today when the minister was speaking, he was raving on about how we all attack renewable energy—I think he is misrepresenting most of us—that I think everybody wants a portion of renewable energy, but what I suspect this government has done is fail to plan to have that integrated into our national network. I look to the Treasurer and Minister for Energy's ministerial statement from yesterday where he says at the bottom of page two:

I can also advise the house that, prior to the event on 28 September, the government had already taken steps to ensure that the national electricity framework adequately provided for the reliability and security of the power system as it transitions to a carbon-constrained future.

One of the questions that we are going to be asking, and we expect to get some sort of answer on, is: when did he actually ensure the national electricity framework 'adequately provided for the reliability and security of the power system as it transitions to a carbon-constrained future'? Clearly, the advice we were given on the ERD Committee in 2003—13 years ago—was you actually need to plan for this and I think that is the failing of this government. They have embraced renewable energy with much gusto.

I am on the record as saying that maybe the location of some of the wind farms in high-value cropping areas, where the neighbour has to perhaps change the way they go about their farming practices, is unfortunate and we should look to areas where it does not impact on your neighbour's property. As members would know, as a former farmer, I have always believed that you should able to do whatever you want on your property as long as you do not impact on your neighbour. If they do not have to change the way they go about their daily business, then you should be able to pretty much do what you want.

The real issue with point (c) is: what warnings was the government given along this journey—in say, the last 10 years, from 2006 to now—that they needed to make sure that the system could cope with all this renewable energy? Of course, we saw Alinta close up shop in April, but they had been making some noises about that for some time, and I believe they might have even put a proposal to government to stay open. I am not sure. That is something that I think is under FOI and the government is refusing to release it. I think some legal action is being taken now to look at what proposal Alinta put to them, but really, it is important.

Knowing that they were likely to go, and probably would go, what did the government do to make sure the system was robust and secure enough that we could operate as a First World economy and have a First World and a first-class electricity system that is secure, affordable and as clean as we can have? That is an important part of the component, and the committee will endeavour to look at what advice the government received leading up to this event and what issues could have been foreshadowed.

If it had been given any advice, what are circumstances where we could be confronted with a similar scenario? If we get a big wind event again in the next six months, similar to that big storm, are we likely to see the same thing happen again? In the middle of summer, we know that our peak demand is somewhere around 3,300 or 3,500 megawatts when everybody gets home in the afternoon and turns their air conditioner on and cooks the evening meal and all the stuff that happens. What is the scenario? I do not know. I am just contemplating a 40° day but with a front and some cloud coming in. There is no wind; it is a calm day and overcast. Does that mean we have no wind power and our rooftop solars are somewhat diminished in their output?

It would be interesting to have a look at any of the likely scenarios where we could face power shortages again and what advice the government has received in relation to those particular scenarios, whether it is just a freak event like a storm, like the Premier said, or whether there is a range of scenarios where we could be confronted with, maybe not total blackouts but certainly rolling blackouts across the city, load shedding or even brownouts. I think it is important that South Australians know what the government has been advised.

Point (d), 'Costs to households, businesses and the South Australian economy as a whole due to the blackout'. South Australians did suffer. We know that businesses lost produce, businesses had to shut down and stop operating, and we want to know at what cost. What was the cost overall to the South Australian economy? I think I heard on the radio or television the next morning, or within a few days, that South Australia daily produces about $400 million worth of goods and services. Admittedly, most of this blackout initially was in the afternoon and then in the evening, so people knocked off early and went home—if they could get home in the gridlock.

The output is $400 million a day. We know that BHP, OZ Minerals, Prominent Hill copper-gold mine, and the Whyalla Steelworks were without full power for up to 10 days. I am not sure about Nyrstar, but I think they were without power for a particularly large period of time. These companies are reporting losses in the tens of millions of dollars while their respective mines had to be shut down. I suspect this is only the tip of the iceberg. Port Lincoln was without power for some 54 hours, and this has had a significant impact on fisheries and businesses in that area.

I was speaking to some experts in the fishing industry only two or three days ago. They said, 'We thought we were in a pretty good space. The biggest cost in fishing is energy, whether it is diesel energy to run your boat or electricity energy on land, and actually, from a diesel point of view, with relatively low fuel prices, we are really competitive compared to our overseas competitors, but our energy costs are always at the top end, and have been at the top end, and now we have to factor in an unreliable component.'

It is most disturbing and disheartening to hear the number of businesses that do not want to relocate, that do not want to leave South Australia, or for reasons cannot leave South Australia, which are now looking at investing in their own backup generation. To me, it is a tragedy that you expect business not only to pay a high price for electricity because it is clean and green, but then also to have to invest in backup generation so that they can be insured, if you like, against a loss.

We were very fortunate because a lot of the big seafood people in Port Lincoln were within a few hours of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock. You would appreciate that if you have a big stack of frozen prawns in a big freezer, there is a thermal mass that keeps them frozen, as it was the middle of winter, but eventually it does start to warm up. Thankfully, from my understanding, they came very close but the losses were not as great as they could have been if it had been a bit longer.

The other issue that we need to look at was the very sad case of the embryos that were lost at Flinders Medical Centre. I think the Hon. Stephen Wade might have asked questions about this in the Budget and Finance Committee. I do not know but I suspect there were some issues with the backup generator and its fuel supply and why that did not work, but maybe we should not have needed a backup generator if our system was robust enough.

I do not know the circumstances of the families that those embryos belong to. I would hope that they are all in a position to create, fertilise and have more embryos and that that was not their last opportunity because that would be a real tragedy for families in this great country who were clearly using that technology to try to have a family, and if their last opportunity was lost because the system failed, I do not have any words that can explain that.

Point (e), 'Lessons learnt from the blackout'. Extended from the emergency services response, I think we need to look at: what do we have to do? I am sure Dr Alan Finkel and the expert group that is coming together will probably answer this, but we have an opportunity as we have a state that has invested in or encouraged people to go to a reduced carbon future or a carbon-constrained future. We have that, I do not think we can change that, that is the way we are now with rooftop solar and the amount of wind generation we have in situ, so clearly there has to be an opportunity to say: what do we have to do to our network and our system to make sure it does not happen again, because we need systems and policies in place to give people and householders certainty.

I was at the Sunday Mail Home Garden Show after that event, and it was interesting that there was quite a lot of interest in the Tesla battery, Powerwall, or whatever it is called, that you take to your domestic home and you charge it with your rooftop solar. They are about $20,000 for an average size home. There were people there annoyed, concerned, upset with not having electricity, and there was quite a queue of people wanting to get advice on this particular product. Again, you are expecting South Australians, who have paid all of their taxes and charges and who have probably worked hard all of their lives, who are now saying, 'Well the system is not reliable enough; we need to take matters into our own hands.'

I think that is a really important issue that we need to address because you will have people building industrial properties, commercial properties, housing, hotels and high-rise apartments. If you cannot guarantee an electricity supply, then you have to factor in some sort of backup generation or power storage or something so that the facility can be reliable. It would be a tragedy in our state to see somebody marketing their block of apartments saying, 'We have a generator and we can keep the lights on and you will never get stuck in your elevator, whereas with the one down the road you will.' So, I think this whole blackout has raised a whole range of concerns.

Point (f), 'Any other relevant matters.' I think it is about the plan of what we do going forward. There is a state election in the next 18 months. One of the two major parties will win the election, but it is about giving South Australians some security and confidence that whoever is in government will be able to keep the lights on and that there will be a policy and a framework there that delivers affordable, reliable and, as much as possible, clean energy. Clearly, the three things we all look at these days, after this event, is: reliable, affordable and as clean as possible.

These are some of the really important issues that we want this select committee to look at and I urge members, whether opposite or on the crossbenches, to support the select committee. I do not imagine it will drag on for 12 or 18 months, but I am certainly keen to get it established in the next three or four sitting weeks, so that we can actually look at these issues early next year. I urge members to support the committee.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

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