Following the system-wide power outage that occurred in Alice Springs on 13 October the Government acted swiftly to engage the Utilities Commission to conduct a comprehensive and independent investigation.

Today, the findings of this investigation and the Government’s response have been released.

The investigation report outlines 15 recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Government has accepted 14 recommendations in whole and 1 in-principle while further information is sought.

The independent investigation found that a number of key failures caused the system black event and delayed the restoration of power.

The failures are technical, complex and involve both equipment failure and human error.

The clear message from the independent investigation is that there was an unacceptably low level of preparedness by the Power and Water Corporation and Territory Generation.

Following receipt of the final independent investigation on 2 December, the Chairs of both the Territory Generation and Power and Water Corporation boards were informed that the Government no longer had confidence in the CEOs of the two corporations.

Subsequently, David Brown has been appointed by the Territory Generation board of directors as the Acting CEO whilst a recruitment process for a permanent CEO is undertaken.

Djuna Pollard has been appointed by the Power and Water Corporation board of directors as the Acting CEO whilst a recruitment process for a permanent CEO is undertaken.

Both organisations received written instructions from Minister Wakefield last week to immediately begin the task of implementing the recommendations of the report.

The Government will provide open and transparent progress reporting against the recommendations and has asked the Utilities Commission to complete and publish these reports.

 Quotes from Minister for Renewables, Energy & Essential Services, Dale Wakefield

“Hardworking Territorians, families and businesses deserve stable, reliable and affordable power.

“The system-wide power outage that occurred on 13 October was simply unacceptable – the people of Alice Springs deserve much better.

“That’s why the Government has acted swiftly and decisively to ensure similar incidents don’t occur again.

“This swift and decisive action is only possible when our public power assets remain in public hands.

“I want to thank the dedicated and hardworking staff of Territory Generation and Power and Water Corporation for their efforts to restore power after the system black event.

“And I want to assure the people of Alice Springs that I will always stand up for our people, our town and to fight for projects that will create more jobs and a brighter future for our community.”

Media Contact: Paige Nguyen 0428 727 244
paige.nguyen@nt.gov.au