PENNY Sharpe, New South Wales Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Heritage and The Environment has said she and the State Government are doing everything possible to ensure Broken Hill and the Far West remain powered after a State of Natural Disaster was declared on Tuesday, October 23.
“The plan is to first get electricity up, second make sure everyone is okay, and the third part of course will be asking questions about what has gone wrong and how do we make sure it doesn’t happen again” she said.
Four generators were transported to Broken Hill on Tuesday and were being installed near the gas turbine which Ms Sharpe said will act as “back up for the backup.”
Ms Sharpe said another four generators were on their way that will also be able to be used as part of the back-up plan in case the main backup generator becomes inoperable again.
“Some of the other generators are also going out to the smaller communities to support them,” she said.
“Essential energy has around 75 small emergency generators that are also being deployed to help people through
that.”
Ms Sharpe said community meetings have been taking place throughout Far West NSW to keep residents informed.
“We are not going to leave communities behind,” she said.
People in the region are required to minimise electricity between 5.30pm and 10.30pm to ensure the generator is not overloaded.
“This is going to be challenging for the next few weeks,” she said.
With the Premier Chris Minns indicating his support for an inquiry into the power crisis, Ms Sharpe said she’s back her leader.
“Obviously the situation is not acceptable,” she said.
“There are questions that will need to be answered when we get through this immediate challenge.”
