Inside Energex recovery effort on the Gold Coast to get the power back on

The battle to reconnect those homes to the grid has been far from a walk in the park for Energex workers. Find out what it takes to turn the lights back on.

Energex workers get on with recovery efforts outside HOTA and Bundall. Picture Glenn Hampson

The Energex staff called in to help get the Gold Coast’s power back on after the cyclone outages have axed annual leave and are battling fallen trees, their own personal power outages and public abuse.

A week after ex-tropical cyclone Alfred decimated the Gold Coast’s electricity infrastructure, thousands of homes are still without power - after 130,000 were out across the Gold Coast at its peak.

More than 2000 Energex staff are still working around the clock.

Those suffering through week-long outages are being taunted by the fallen trees which disrupted their connection in the first place, but a spokeswoman for Energex pleaded with those scorned to remember that damage caused by the weather event was unprecedented.

Spokeswoman for Energex, Renee Kath. Picture: Energy Queensland.

“We’ve got over 2000 crew out and about working on this around the clock,” Energex spokeswoman Renee Kath said.

Energex workers get on with recovery efforts outside HOTA and Bundall. Picture Glenn Hampson

Ms Kath said a lot of those crew members also called southeast Queensland home, and were also personally been affected by the storm.

“A lot of our crews are without power at their own home but are coming into work every day to help support the restoration,” she said.

As well as multiple crews from the far reaches of regional Queensland flocking in droves to help with the effort, Ms Kath said some crew members have returned early from annual leave early just to help in any way they can.

Energex workers get on with recovery efforts outside HOTA and Bundall. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Anyone that has to go without electricity for a lengthy period of time it does get very frustrating and we totally understand.

“We just ask people stop being so malicious with comments and feedback because the team does take it to heart.”

That sentiment was echoed by the partner of an Energex linesman on social media.

Energex workers get on with recovery efforts outside HOTA and Bundall. Picture Glenn Hampson

In their post, they called out some egregious behaviour towards Energex workers including a sign plastered to a fallen tree which read: “Where are you, Energex?”

The conditions for workers in the field have been far from a walk in the park, as waterlogged land threatens to bog trucks as they attempt to navigate the more treacherous terrain of the Gold Coast hinterland.

Energex crews have been hailed as heroes as they worked around the clock to reconnect Gold Coasters to the grid. Picture: Energy Queensland.

“Now we’re getting to the point that we need excavation, we needs cranes, et cetera. We’ve got big gum trees that have fallen on power lines, so for us to get in here is quite challenging,” Ms Kath said.

“We won’t stop until we get everyone back on, but it will take time because those areas are very hard for us to access and obviously we need it to be safe for our staff as well.”

She said some community members have also warmed the hearts of the field workers, offering to bring water, food, and children’s drawings.

“It’s very heartwarming to be thanked by the community members.”

As of Friday, 85 per cent of those who lost power in the cyclone have had their power restored, and just under 10,000 homes are still in the dark.

Ms Kath said with some parts of the grid were completely wiped out, with crews taking the opportunity to ensure those parts of the grid were rebuilt in the best possible way, but even with the best possible design, electricity infrastructure is not able to withstand cyclones.

“I don’t think any network could sustain that type of winds and torrential storm that we had,” she said.

At the suggestion of underground power infrastructure, Ms Kath said it was incredibly expensive and has shortcomings.

“Underground power does not always mean that your power is more reliable.

“Flooding can very much impact the underground network so and obviously we’re looking at the cost back to the consumer as well.

“Where it makes sense to do so we have made some changes, but I think it’s something that we have to consider all options when we go to do that because that would be a significant cost that would be seen by the consumers on their own electricity bill.”

Originally published as Inside Energex recovery effort on the Gold Coast to get the power back on