Toowoomba Ergon heroes thanked for storm response

Energy Minister Mark McArdle and Member for Toowoomba North Trevor Watts have thanked staff at Toowoomba’s Ergon Energy depot for their outstanding work restoring power to the region’s homes and businesses after recent severe weather events.

“All across Queensland we saw mass devastation and loss,” Mr McArdle said.

“The total number of outages in the Ergon area was 93,715 with 4,900 without supply in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs.

“There were a total of 624 crews out on the ground that heroically restored much needed power to our storm-battered regional areas.”

Mr McArdle said all Toowoomba customers affected by the severe storm were reconnected to supply within 24 hours, where safe to reconnect, and flood affected customers in the Darling Downs area were reconnected where safe to do so.

“This response is a tribute to the resilience, courage and professionalism of Ergon staff in this unprecedented network disaster,” he said. 

“I met with about 20 Ergon workers at the Toowoomba depot and really enjoyed hearing their input and experiences from recent weather events.

“It was unfortunate to see a small group of Electrical Trades Union (ETU) organisers playing politics outside when I was there to thank the workers on behalf of all Queenslanders.”

“Ergon workers did a tremendous job during the recent weather events and the ETU had an opportunity to thank the workers with me, but they chose to protest outside their workplace.”

Mr Watts also offered his sincere thanks to the staff.

“Often we forget about how vital electricity is to our lives, so when we lose it so severely across Queensland, it makes us doubly grateful to the people who maintain that supply,” he said.

“It was only a few years ago that we saw terrible floods ravage our beautiful region, and on behalf of my electorate, I thank the dedicated men and women at Ergon Energy for their hard work.”

[ENDS] 27 February 2013

Media Contact: Minister’s Office 07 3896 3691