Lights out, fridges off, schools shut in Broken Hill

After a storm last week left residents without power, the main generator has now failed, forcing locals and businesses to rely on diesel backups and triggering a government investigation.

A Broken Hill chemist has been forced to throw out $20,000 worth of medication after thieves stole a generator powering fridges full of vaccines and prescription drugs, as the town deals with a crisis which has left them with little to no power for a week.

The community has had no electricity following a severe storm which destroyed Broken Hill’s transmission towers, forcing the town to rely on backup generators since last Wednesday.

The main generator for the 17,000 strong town then failed on Monday night, forcing residents and businesses to rely on diesel backups.

Power has been progressively restored across Broken Hill and neighbouring towns, however the power is still running off a generator, and is intermittent.

The power cuts have led to school closures, long lines for petrol, and emergency plans introduced at the local hospital.

It comes as the NSW government announced an investigation into electricity provider Transgrid over the debacle.

CP Peoples Chemist in Broken Hill had its backup generator stolen on Tuesday evening, combined with the town’s main generator failing meant tens of thousands of dollars worth of medication was destroyed.

Broken Hill pharmacy owner Jason Harvey had his generator stolen forcing him to throw out tens of thousands of dollars worth of refrigerated medication. Picture: Richard Dobson

Pharmacy owner Jason Harvey said the situation on the ground was “hard.”

“Transgrid gave us a generator to keep our vaccine and medication in the fridge at a reasonable temperature while the large power outages [occurred].”

“One of our staff filled it up at midnight and when they went back to open the store the next morning, it was gone,” he said.

Local Debbie Staker went 33 hours without power and had to travel over 300 kilometres to buy generators. Her power only returned at 2:30am yesterday morning, before cutting out again at 10am, and returning a few hours later.

“I pay over $1000 in electricity every three months and here we are having blackouts,” Ms Staker told The Daily Telegraph in Broken Hill.

NSW Premier Chris Minns confirmed the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) is investigating Transgrid’s management of towers and backup generators and whether the company failed to meet its reliability standards.

Mr Minns said the government was “working around the clock with the local member to fix this problem and ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

Workers are trying to restore power to Broken Hill after a violent storm has left the town without electricity for days. Picture: Supplied/Transgrid

“Our number one priority is to get electricity back and to get the community back on its feet.

“When this utility was privatised, obligations were placed on it to ensure reliability standards are met in the case of a natural disaster.

“An investigation has commenced to understand what has happened and what further actions can be taken to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

In a statement issued yesterday evening, Transgrid said specialist crews are working 24 hour rotating shifts to repair the powerline, while backup power remains to come via generators in the area, combined with the town’s main generator.

“Temporary poles will replace the seven damaged towers” Transgrid posted online.

Originally published as Lights out, fridges off, schools shut in Broken Hill