Power outrage: Ergon promises ‘thermal imaging’ fault inspection after two nights of outages

Two disastrous nights of power outages across Alligator Creek and Nome have unleashed a storm of anger in rural suburbia after families were unable to cook dinner, run aircons, or watch MKR.

Ergon is promising a full inspection of the main feeder lines with thermal imaging to pick up hidden faults. According to Ergon, the November 10 and 11 blackouts were not caused by capacity issues, but equipment failure. Picture: Evan Morgan (2024)

Two disastrous nights of power outages across Alligator Creek and Nome have unleashed a storm of anger in rural suburbia after families were unable to cook dinner, run aircons, or watch MKR.

Residents reported sweating through a five-hour-long power outage on Sunday afternoon, and just as they were regathering, they were hit with another five-hour-long outage on Monday night, affecting around 1,700 customers.

Alligator Creek resident Kerry Sutton said her power was off from 1.50pm to 8pm on Sunday, and 5.20pm to 10pm on Monday.

“We went and bought a $1500 generator today,” Ms Sutton said.

“I work from home so it’s not an option when it’s out this often.”

The Ergon Energy Network said the November 11 outage was caused by a “failed slice on a conductor”. Photo Kevin Farmer (2011)

Ergon’s records show that 1794 customers lost power for three hours on October 16 due to a bushfire, 251 customers experienced a one-hour outage on October 31, 1152 customers were without power for five hours on November 10 likely due to brief contact from a branch or wildlife tripping circuit breakers (no fault was found), and another 1152 customers faced a five-hour outage on November 11 caused by a failed splice on a conductor.

Alligator Creek’s Pub Grub owner Bruce Elder serves up to 250 meals a week at the Alligator Creek Community and Sports Club.

“I’ve lived in a lot of places, Alice Springs, Russell Island, western QLD, and since we moved here in 2017, Alligator Creek has been the worst area for power outages by far, and they are happening so consistently,” Mr Elder said.

“When we have power outages, the club can’t open, and we lose sales. It happens so much the club is actually trying to get some funding together to buy their own generator.”

Bruce and Reshma Elder, the owners of Alligator Creek Pub Grub

Mr Elder has already used his own money to purchase a $4000 generator, which is capable of running his fridges and freezers during outages to avoid food wastage – but it can’t support the entire building.

“The sad thing is we’re a listed evacuation centre, and we performed that service during the 2019 floods,” he said.

“On Sunday, we had a whole heap of families come down when the power went out looking for food, and I gave a bunch away to help feed some kids.”

Thai Beef Salad at Alligator Creek Pub Grub

Mr Elder said the sole petrol station in Alligator Creek, the AMPOL roadhouse, wasn’t able to start their generator up initially during the blackout and was unable to pump fuel, creating a “long line” of people waiting with jerry cans in hand.

The Ergon Energy Network said the November 11 outage was caused by a “failed slice on a conductor”.

“The faulty equipment that caused Monday’s outage has been replaced and power safety restored to customers, we are planning more thorough inspections of the major feeder lines that supply the southern suburbs,” a spokesman said.

“This will include thermal imaging, which can detect defects that may not be picked up in visual inspections. The aim is to identify and rectify any issues before they cause outages.”

As of November 13, Ergon has thermal image-checked every connection along more than 100km of powerlines.

The Ergon Energy Network said crews have been “doing a lot of work to improve network reliability” in the Alligator Creek and Cungulla areas.

Townsville City councillor Brady Ellis, who represents division 10, wrote to Ergon directly on Monday.

“The losses are not isolated to homeowners, as local businesses are also left unable to compete as the local NBN tower loses battery backup after as little as 10 hours,” Mr Ellis said.

“EFTPOS machines cease to take payments and Zoom meetings don’t happen.”

Councillor Brady Ellis at the Townsville City Council general meeting. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Mr Ellis said southern residents understand outages happen, but the amount of times it was happening and the “lack of hope for a future resolution” was disheartening.

Regional and Rural Development Minister – and fellow Alligator Creek resident – Dale Last said he’s requested a full briefing on the matter.

Burdekin MP Dale Last was made minister for natural resources and mines, minister for manufacturing, and minister for regional and rural development after the QLD elections – Picture: Richard Walker

“I am advised that both outages on Sunday and Monday were not caused by capacity issues but rather two different physical faults in the line which needed to be located and rectified,” the state MP said.

“Last year we saw this community raise their voices around the reliability of their power supply and as a result significant upgrades were achieved … of course, we still have warmer months ahead of us where we typically see the demand on our power supply increase so I will be doing whatever I can as the state member to ensure that we can keep the lights on.”

The Ergon Energy Network is part of Energy Queensland, which is a 100 per cent government-owned corporation reporting to the Queensland treasurer David Janetzki (sworn in November 1, 2024), and the energy minister, which is also Mr Janetzki.

Originally published as Power outrage: Ergon promises ‘thermal imaging’ fault inspection after two nights of outages