More local jobs as Ergon powers ahead with new depot

Up to a dozen construction jobs will be created to build a new multi-million dollar Ergon Energy depot at Cannonvale.

Tenders are about to be called for the development at Galbraith Park Drive, which will include a new building, vehicle storage and wash down facilities.

Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the construction would create opportunities for both workers and suppliers in the region and, when finished, would provide the ideal location for field crews who serve customers across the Whitsunday region.

“The depot is strategically located closer to the central business district and key tourism precinct of Airlie Beach, as well as high-density residential areas,” Dr Lynham said.

“Being closer to highly-populated areas will help reduce response times in the event of unplanned outages affecting large numbers of customers.

“The sooner crews can find network faults, the quicker they can fix them and get the power back on.”

Ergon staff have been based in temporary office accommodation since severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie impacted the Proserpine depot in 2017.

Dr Lynham said Cannonvale was the ideal location for field crews, who serve customers across the Whitsunday region.

“The new home base will allow for improved access for heavy vehicles and wash down facilities which are obviously important when you’re working in farming areas with biosecurity risks,” he said.

The successful tender will be awarded in January 2020 with work expected to take around 12 months to complete.

Queensland’s publicly-owned electricity companies – Powerlink, Ergon, Energex, CS Energy, Stanwell Corp and CleanCo, will invest more than $2.2 billion on capital works in 2019-20, supporting up to 4900 jobs.

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