LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sir – The Government must sack the Territory Generation Board (again!) for their incompetence.
After the horrendous blackout on October 13, yesterday most of the rural area of Alice Springs saw a power outage in 41 degree heat.
This blackout lasted about 45 minutes in the middle of the day, with significant impact on residents and businesses.
Alice Springs people have had a gutful of this incompetence and degradation of their lifestyle.
The management of Territory Generation are failing to provide a reliable source of electricity for Alice Springs and should be sacked.
Two years ago the Share Holding Minister for Territory Generation, Nicole Manison, sacked the Board of Territory Generation for blowing their budget by $20m.
She put an old Labor apparatchik onto the very well-paid board, placing Dennis Bree as chair, a former senior Labor political advisor.
The Territory Generation budget has continued to blow out and power supply to Central Australia has never been more unreliable.
We are not even into the summer months with 10 hours of power outages in less than 2 months. People have every reason to dread a long hot summer with more blackouts on the way. This is completely unacceptable.
Robyn Lambley MLA (pictured)
Independent Member for Araluen
UPDATE November 22
A short power interruption was experienced in Alice Springs on November 20, 2019 and was not related to Territory Generation operations or staffing, with the Owen Springs Power Station continuing to operate soundly during this time, according to a response from TGen.
Territory Generation is currently transitioning from the aged Ron Goodin Power Station to the new gas-powered units at Owen Springs Power Station to service the Alice Springs community. To ensure minimal disruption to the Alice Springs community, Ron Goodin Power Station is manned 24-hours a day, while the new Owen Springs Power Station is monitored for stability.
Territory Generation continues to focus on ensuring a reliable power supply to Territorians while we transition to renewable energy sources.
In the 2018/19 financial year, Territory Generation made an $8.5 million net profit after tax and paid the NT Government a $4.25m dividend.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
All that matters for Labor is Darwin, the rest of us in the Territory can go hang as far as they’re concerned.
From what I’ve heard, the Territory’s dire economic situation (we’re in recession) is worsening significantly so we cannot anticipate an improvement in services anytime soon.
Labor’s political survival strategy is simple: It must hang onto its seats in Darwin if it’s to stand any chance at all in next year’s NT election campaign.
Hopefully Ms Lambley will do some basic research about her chosen topic before her next call for sackings, or it might be her head that rolls.
She has been a good independent member but has taken lately to shooting from the hip.