‘That’s what we do’: Energex workers reveal ‘hard slog’ to restore Gold Coast power

‘That’s what we do’. The ongoing battle to restore power to Gold Coast homes in the wake of devastating weather is something Energex staff take extreme pride in. Meet your heroes

Meet the heroes of Energex - the staff who have battled torrential rain and extreme heat while ignoring their own family distress to get your power back on.

South-east Queensland general manager Kevin Lavender is among hundreds of Energex staff who were working on ex-tropical Cyclone Jasper damage in the state’s north before returning to the Gold Coast after freak Christmas storms hit.

The Gold Coast blast left over 130,000 people without power including Mr Lavender’s Upper Coomera home.

“My young kids were very scared,” Mr Lavender said.

“I could see the winds had blown over one of my outdoor blinds, and the outdoor TV was rattling pretty bad. Then our fence went down. I had to run back inside.

“The next day all the fences were down, I had some roof tiles lifted and a retaining wall had some water damage.”

Mr Lavender rushed across the street at one point to check on his elderly neighbour who lives by herself.

Energy Minister Mick de Brenni, Energex deputy chief operations officer Jeff Green, Energex chair Sarah Zeljko, South-East Queensland general manager Kevin Lavender and Deputy Premier Cameron Dick. Picture: Amaani Siddeek

“We checked on her, put the roof tiles back on and made sure she was safe,” he said.

“Her ceiling was bulging with all the water and we had no power. I spoke to her about moving into her daughter’s house so she would be safer with more support.”

Mr Lavender said the storms left his family without power for four to five days, adding he knew he had to be on the ground helping the city despite wanting to stay home with his family.

“With two young kids, the storm definitely put a dampener on the Christmas spirit,” he said.

“But I come from a community where you look out for each other. So for me, it was also important to be around for the troops for the people on the ground. There’s a lot of good people here.”

Energex chief operations officer Jeff Green flew out from Toowoomba to work on the ground.

“We have a very proud workforce who pride themselves on restoring power in these type of events as quickly as possible,” he said.

Deputy Premier Cameron Dick meeting with Energex SEQ general manager Kevin Lavender. picture: Supplied

“We had 1000 people in the field. That’s a lot of people who cancelled their holidays to come and work. We had two days of 38-degree heat and then we had two days in a row where it didn’t stop raining.

“So yeah, it’s been a bit of a hard slog, but that’s what we do.”

On Wednesday, Deputy Premier Cameron Dick and Energy Minister Mick de Brenni issued a big ‘thank you’ to workers at a morning breakfast.

Mr Dick said over two weeks, Energex crews worked over 80,000 hours to restore 120 kilometres of power lines weighing about 65 tonnes in total despite heatwaves and rain.

“As the Deputy Premier, as a leader in our government, but as a Queenslander - I couldn’t be more proud of the work of these incredible energy workers,” he said.

Deputy chief operating officer Jeff Green addressing Energex crews at the Ashmore depot. Picture: Amaani Siddeek

“Many of the workers we meet here today and we thank here today gave up their own holidays and that speaks to the caliber of the workers we’ve got in energy Queensland.”

“Really the biggest reward for our people is seeing the smiles on people’s faces when their power comes back on,” Mr Green said,

“People ask about awards and recognition, but the real reward is looking at a family who’ve had their power restored, it makes such a big difference.”

Energy Queensland currently has 517 apprentices, making Energy Queensland one of the largest employers of apprentices in the country. This year a record 160 apprentices will also start their careers and that number will grow by 10 per cent a year for 10 years.

SEQ recorded 3.5 million lightning strikes between December 15, 2023 to January 1, 2024 compared to 38,000 for the same period in 2022.