Union blames staff cuts for reconnection delays

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says staff cuts are to blame for recent delays in much-needed repairs to the ACT’s electricity network.

Canberra is the latest city to be hit by wild weather, with a sudden windstorm rolling in on Friday, 13 January. The Bureau of Meteorology reported wind gusts of up to 90 km per hour, which brought down trees and subsequently disrupted power to around 16,000 properties. The territory’s network operator, ActewAGL, advised that 4000 homes were still without power late Friday evening.

ETU Organiser Mick Koppie said that ActewAGL was unable to keep up with demand — a situation he said was a direct result of forced staff cuts that followed an operating allowance reduction imposed by the Australian Energy Regulator last year. Koppie said that ActewAGL was forced to call for urgent assistance from neighbouring NSW electricity company Essential Energy in order to repair the damaged network.

“What we have seen in the past 12 months is the Australian Energy Regulator forcing network operators like ActewAGL to cut frontline staff with the promise of cheaper power prices that never seem to be delivered,” Koppie said.

“Due to the severity of Friday’s storm, there are still parts of the network needing repair today — three days after the event, which is totally unacceptable.

“The people of Canberra were lucky on this occasion that NSW network operator Essential Energy was able to assist and reduce the impact of outages; however, this may not be the case in the future.

“NSW electricity network operators have also been forced to cut frontline staff by the Australian Energy Regulator, meaning that future response times are likely to be impacted with people waiting longer to be reconnected while assistance from across the border may not be available.

“Essential Energy have axed more than 1400 jobs across NSW since 2011 and they are planning to cut a further 600 in 2017, meaning that future assistance may not be forthcoming.

“ActewAGL should not rely on the stopgap measure of outside assistance and should instead ensure that adequate staffing levels are maintained in order to respond to future natural disasters independently,” Koppie said.