The town of Kalgoorlie, in WA’s Goldfields, has been crippled by a blackout that has impacted the water supply, telephone services, internet connections, fuel stations and retail outlets.
Key points:
- Power, water, telephone services, fuel and internet have been impacted
- Five transmission towers were felled in a powerful summer storm
- Authorities are asking people to prepare to go without power for up to a week
The situation is so bad that on Thursday evening the Department of Fire Emergency Services (DFES) said people should be prepared for power outages of up to seven days.
“People planning travel to the area should reconsider their plans. Non-essential travel should be postponed,” DFES said.
With temperatures tipped to hover around the 40-degree mark for the next five days, WA Police urged the community to “look out for each other” and to check on vulnerable neighbours.
In the town of Kambalda, about 60 kilometres away, cars queued by the side of the road to enter a petrol station, since those in Kalgoorlie were closed.
So, how could Australia’s largest outback town, with a population of almost 30,000 people, be without power for more than a week?
What went wrong?
An intense storm that moved through the regions on Wednesday was responsible for the blackout.
That storm, which hit with force during the middle of a heatwave, tore down trees and ripped roofs in a widespread area that even impacted eastern suburbs of Perth.
In a statement issued on Thursday evening, Western Power said 26,900 customers were without power, with 17,000 of those in the Central Wheatbelt and Goldfields regions.
“The second storm that occurred [on Wednesday] impacted large portions of our network in the Central Wheatbelt and Goldfields and 17,000 customers remain without power in these areas,” the Western Power statement read.
“The cause of this outage is damage to the network from a lightning strike as a result of the storm.
“The 220-kilovolt transmission line that supplies Kalgoorlie has sustained significant damage from the storm front that moved through the region yesterday evening.
“There are currently five towers down with repairs expected to take some time.”
Western Power said its engineering teams were examining “other options” for restoration, including “supplying the undamaged section of the 220KV line via the 132KV network”.
“Synergy are also currently conducting repairs on the gas turbine generator in West Kalgoorlie in an effort to restore power to Kalgoorlie townsite.”
As recently as November, Western Power said its alternative generation supply arrangement at the West Kalgoorlie Terminal with Synergy, via two gas turbine generators, “can be used as a backup power supply for unplanned outages”.
Western Power has said they’re currently out of service due to technical issues.
The company said current restoration times are unknown, but did say full restoration would take “a number of days”.
Who’s to blame?
The WA opposition has blamed the state government for the blackout, declaring it should have ensured there was adequate backup for the town.
Opposition Energy spokesman Steve Thomas said the government appeared to have done little to improve energy security in the Goldfields since 2022.
“There’s a backup system in place in Kalgoorlie but unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be working,” he said.
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“The state government was aware two years ago in 2022, with the last round of blackouts, that there was a problem with the backup system.
“Two years later, and two ministers later, we still haven’t got a solution.”
Mr Thomas said the government should have been able to use some of its budget surplus to ensure power supplied weren’t interrupted for so long.
“If this was happening in the middle of Perth you would have a completely different outcome,” he said.
“I don’t understand why Kalgoorlie can’t get the level of service it deserves, particularly when the government’s got generators in place that just don’t seem to function properly.
“We’re in the middle of the biggest boom we’ve ever had and you can’t get normal metropolitan services in a major centre like Kalgoorlie.”
Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson said the inability to use backup supply was frustrating.
“This has been affected from a particular instance of weather west of Kellerberrin from what we’re aware of,” he said.
“It is disappointing for the city and its residents to be in this position considering we’ve got the infrastructure that’s right here that’s not able to be activated as quickly and efficiently as we need.”
Businesses impacted
On Thursday, Dr Kylie Sterry told ABC Regional Drive that Plaza Medical Centre had been closed.
“It’s impossible to run a medical practice in 40-degree heat,” she said.
“With no lights, no air conditioners and no computers.
“Unfortunately there’s a lot of patients who can’t see a doctor today.”
She advised people to stay in the shade as much as possible, wear light clothing and drink as much water as possible.
In Kalgoorlie, those businesses that could operate were accepting only cash.
Earlier, Energy Minister Reece Whitby said he had “incredible sympathy” for those affected by power outages across the state, which he said were triggered by a “pretty extraordinary weather event”.
“Can I assure everyone that’s impact that Western Power is doing absolutely everything they can,” he said.
“Whenever lines come down and there is a danger, the priority must be to preserve life, the last thing we want to see is anyone injured or their life lost.
“I know people are frustrated, I know it’s difficult and I know there are issues out there.”
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