A petition demanding a more reliable power supply in the Gympie region should see the problem resolved with a promised upgrade to the network by the energy supplier.
The petition was started by Celeste Rigby of Curra on December 28, last year, on Change.org and has garnered 613 signatures so far with a target of 1000.
In her petition, Ms Rigby said that as a resident of Curra she endured frequent power outages, especially during summer.
"In a 15-day period Curra lost power 12 times, with no storm activity. This has highlighted that weather phenomena is not the cause," she said.
"According to the Australian Energy Regulator's annual report 2019-2020, Queensland has experienced a significant increase in the number of sustained interruptions and this has only increased every year since, especially in rural areas," she said.
In response to questions from Queensland Country Life, a spokesperson for Ergon Energy said the company had already launched an electricity distribution network upgrade in the Curra region with the project due to be completed by mid 2024.
The Ergon spokesperson said the proposed project was aimed at improving the electricity supply reliability in the Curra region by adding an alternative feeder to the area while increasing the area's network capacity.
"There have been a few unplanned network outages that impacted Curra in December, predominantly due to strong storm activities. Some outages have been triggered by other weather impacts causing protection system to trip the feeder when network was deemed unsafe to operate," the spokesperson said.
"The protection equipment acts like the safety switch in a customer's home and turns power off when the network is not in a safe state of operation."
Ergon's record of outages in Curra include outages on December 15 from 5.20pm to 6.40; December 16 from 6.10 to 11.30; December 17 from 4pm to 5.10pm; and December 19 from 6.20pm to 7.30pm.
An outage that impacted a small area of Curra also occurred on December 29 from 6.10pm to 7.20pm.
"While the electricity supply reliability is expected to improve significantly after commissioning of the proposed project, in the interim, Ergon Energy crews will respond to any unplanned outages as early as practically possible to undertake the repair work and to restore the power supply in a safe manner," the spokesperson said.
"Safety of our crews, customers and community is the highest priority when responding to unplanned outages."
Judith Maizey
Judith Maizey has worked as a journalist and communications specialist for more than 30 years throughout Queensland and NSW. Working for Queensland Country Life, she is always up for a chat and loves a good story. Contact 0417 546 616. E: judith.maizey@queenslandcountrylife.com.au
Judith Maizey has worked as a journalist and communications specialist for more than 30 years throughout Queensland and NSW. Working for Queensland Country Life, she is always up for a chat and loves a good story. Contact 0417 546 616. E: judith.maizey@queenslandcountrylife.com.au
