Power failure concerns for Daruka and Moore Creek residents

But energy giant Essential Energy says the electricity network in the Daruka and Moore Creek area is operating as expected and met industry-accepted performance targets in 2016.

Liz and Barry White have lived in Daruka for more than a decade.

They say power outages are becoming more frequent, with an average of one a month or more during the storm season.

The most recent blackouts happened back-to-back – a four-hour blackout on Friday, followed by a five-hour blackout on Saturday. The temperature peaked at 40 degrees on both days.

“It’s not just the lack of air conditioning – when the power is out, we don’t even have access to water,” Mrs White said. “We don’t have town water out here, we have pressurised pumps.”

Essential Energy said Saturday's blackout was caused by a storm and also effect 3200 households in Bendemeer, Kootingal, Loomberah,  Moonbi, Calala, Daruka and Nemingha.

“The storm caused the bolts holding a stand-off, which held a powerline away from a concrete power pole, to sheer off on the main powerline servicing the Bendemeer area [and] a section of powerline was also damaged and this had to be replaced,” an Essential Energy spokesman said.

The blackouts have become so regular in Daruka, the Whites have begun putting water aside in preparation for an unexpected outage. They expect the problem to get worse at the area grows.

“Are we able to cater for all those houses?” Mrs White said.

“If the power goes off regularly, and we are putting in all these new subdivisions, is the power going to get worse?”

Essential Energy’s northern manager Mark Summers said the company took its responsibility to supply reliable power serious, but it was impossible to guarantee a continuous supply.

“Customers living in areas such as Daruka and Moore Creek, will typically experience more unplanned power outages... as powerlines are largely radial with very long sections which typically supply sparsely populated areas,” Mr Summers said.

“These powerlines can be more susceptible to unplanned power outages due to their increased exposure to environmental factors.”

The energy demands of new resident estates are assessed “prior to permission being granted for new connections”, and the developer generally needs to contribute when additional infrastructure is required.

“Essential Energy continues to monitor all aspects of the electricity network and undertakes maintenance and upgrades as necessary,” Mr Summers said.