Government’s failure to plan for NT’s power grid future bewildering

IT is bewildering that the NT government has not, as a matter of emergency, crafted a comprehensive plan for the Territory’s electricity network.

IT is bewildering that the NT government has not, as a matter of emergency, crafted a comprehensive plan for the Territory’s electricity network.

Without this integrated system plan, there’s no real way to see where the Territory’s power network is at, where it needs to be in a few years’ time in order to keep the lights on, what needs to be upgraded and how much needs to be spent doing it.

The NT government’s 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030 target is noble, but as the NT’s Sky News correspondent Matt Cunningham previously said, this has been planned “about as well as a Willem Westra van Holthe leadership coup”.

Fannie Bay Cool Spot chef Krishna Bhupathi cools down while waiting for the power to come back on during the mass blackout. Picture: Che Chorley

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Here’s another analogy that comes to mind:

The government’s renewable energy goal is like someone saying they want to lose 30kg in five years and expecting that to happen when they refuse to get their bung knee fixed, see a physiotherapist or craft a proper exercise and diet plan all while shoving Macca’s down their gob.

Wishing upon a star and telling everyone it’s going to happen doesn’t make it so.

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The government will eventually have to admit that it cannot, financially and thus physically, meet its renewable energy target.

And without a comprehensive plan and upgrades for the network, Territorians will just have to prepare for a reality where rolling blackouts will become a part of everyday life.