Published Friday, 23 January, 2009 at 02:08 PM
Minister for Mines and Energy
The Honourable Geoff Wilson
Minister praises power workers
Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson has praised Powerlink crews for quickly and safely restoring power to North Queensland last night following an unexpected outage to the region’s high voltage transmission network yesterday evening.
Mr Wilson said the powerlines that were affected by the electrical faults run between Strathmore and Townsville, and are part of the high voltage network that supplies bulk electricity to the Cairns and Townsville region.
“Queensland’s high voltage network is a world-class system that runs 1,700 kilometres from the New South Wales border through to Cairns”, Mr Wilson said.
“What occurred yesterday afternoon was an unexpected fault which affected both powerlines simultaneously.
“Powerlink’s crew workers deserve our praise for restoring power back to North Queenslanders as quickly and as safely as possible.“
Mr Wilson said yesterday evening’s outage was a rare transmission fault and was not an issue about power supply.
“There is ample supply of power in North Queensland”, Mr Wilson said.
“Last night’s outage was an issue of transmission, that is, poles and lines.
“Queensland has a world-class electricity transmission system, but even the most reliable equipment can experience unexpected electrical faults.”
Mr Wilson said last night’s power outage would have happened regardless of whether North Queensland had another power station.
“A new baseload power station in North Queensland would not have prevented what happened last night because it was a transmission outage – not an issue of generation and supply”, Mr Wilson said.
“Despite the fact there’s already ample electricity supply in North Queensland, the LNP want to slug Queensland taxpayers with the cost of a new power station.
“The LNP’s at loggerheads again.
“On the one hand, Mr Springborg supports a new power station if it is feasible.. and on the other hand, Mr Seeney has said the LNP will build one regardless of the cost.
“This is just another example of the infighting that goes on within the LNP and this time the people of North Queensland are stuck in the middle.
“A new power station could cost Queensland taxpayers up to a billion dollars and would potentially push up the price of electricity in North Queensland.”
Mr Wilson said the Bligh Government has been working with a range of parties about the possibility of additional power in North Queensland for some time but said the bottom line is the economics must stack up.
“Any new power station would have to be able to provide more competitively priced electricity to consumers than is currently available,” Mr Wilson said.
Media Inquiries: Simon Hamill 3224 7332
Mr Wilson said the powerlines that were affected by the electrical faults run between Strathmore and Townsville, and are part of the high voltage network that supplies bulk electricity to the Cairns and Townsville region.
“Queensland’s high voltage network is a world-class system that runs 1,700 kilometres from the New South Wales border through to Cairns”, Mr Wilson said.
“What occurred yesterday afternoon was an unexpected fault which affected both powerlines simultaneously.
“Powerlink’s crew workers deserve our praise for restoring power back to North Queenslanders as quickly and as safely as possible.“
Mr Wilson said yesterday evening’s outage was a rare transmission fault and was not an issue about power supply.
“There is ample supply of power in North Queensland”, Mr Wilson said.
“Last night’s outage was an issue of transmission, that is, poles and lines.
“Queensland has a world-class electricity transmission system, but even the most reliable equipment can experience unexpected electrical faults.”
Mr Wilson said last night’s power outage would have happened regardless of whether North Queensland had another power station.
“A new baseload power station in North Queensland would not have prevented what happened last night because it was a transmission outage – not an issue of generation and supply”, Mr Wilson said.
“Despite the fact there’s already ample electricity supply in North Queensland, the LNP want to slug Queensland taxpayers with the cost of a new power station.
“The LNP’s at loggerheads again.
“On the one hand, Mr Springborg supports a new power station if it is feasible.. and on the other hand, Mr Seeney has said the LNP will build one regardless of the cost.
“This is just another example of the infighting that goes on within the LNP and this time the people of North Queensland are stuck in the middle.
“A new power station could cost Queensland taxpayers up to a billion dollars and would potentially push up the price of electricity in North Queensland.”
Mr Wilson said the Bligh Government has been working with a range of parties about the possibility of additional power in North Queensland for some time but said the bottom line is the economics must stack up.
“Any new power station would have to be able to provide more competitively priced electricity to consumers than is currently available,” Mr Wilson said.
Media Inquiries: Simon Hamill 3224 7332