Energy Qld writes off $90m components in digital overhaul

Energy Queensland’s digital transformation project has chalked up write-offs worth nearly $90m in the past two years.

A spokeswoman said Energy Queensland would work to prevent write-offs.

Nearly $90m worth of technology components have been junked as part of Energy Queensland’s embattled digital overhaul, a new report has revealed.

And a drop in the overall ballooning budget could be short-lived, with parts of the seven-year-old program being rejigged.

The Queensland Audit Office, in its annual report into the state’s energy sector, revealed Energy Queensland’s digital transformation project had chalked up write-offs worth $85m in the past two years as it junked tech components no longer required for the project.

The original digital transformation project was meant to cost $239m as of 2017, but has since morphed into an $850m multistage rollout absorbed into Energy Queensland’s “business as usual”.

The Courier-Mail revealed last year the project could cost up to $952m, but the budget has since fallen to $850m.

Queensland Auditor-General Rachel Vagg, in the report, warned it was likely further budget adjustments would be needed once elements of the project were “re-scoped”.

Tech components worth $43m were written off in 2022-23, with another $42m written off in 2023-24.

An Energy Queensland spokeswoman, asked how the company would work to prevent write-offs, said the company was carefully validating future technical solutions and designing effective delivery models before deploying any new digital capabilities across the organisation.

“Over the coming months, Energy Queensland will conduct detailed design to firm up cost estimates and time frames for the incremental deployment of upcoming digital projects,” she said.