General News
22 February, 2024
Review into energy distribution
The Victorian Government will commission a supplementary independent review into the distribution system response to the recent storms, led by a panel of independent experts, not politicians. The independent review will focus on the operational...
The Victorian Government will commission a supplementary independent review into the distribution system response to the recent storms, led by a panel of independent experts, not politicians.
The independent review will focus on the operational arrangements and preparedness of energy distribution companies to respond to these extreme weather events.
This will include the distribution businesses management of the incident as well as the timely and effective restoration of supply. It will also compare the operating models of energy network companies.
It will also investigate if there were any material opportunities that could have enabled a more rapid reconnection of customers, such as the availability of field crews and technical expertise through the use of mutual aid agreements and resource sharing within Victoria, or from interstate resources.
The panel will investigate communications with customers, the effectiveness of information platforms and services, such as outage trackers, and preparedness to administer relief to impacted communities.
The Victorian Government will also be seeking assistance from the Australian Energy Regulator for information regarding the energy resilience requirements of energy infrastructure companies.
The final scope of the independent review will be given detailed consideration and it will build on the work of the Electricity Distribution Network Resilience Review that followed two storm events in 2021 and focused on the resilience of physical grid infrastructure.
On February 13, Victoria experienced a catastrophic storm event that damaged 12,000 km of powerlines and poles across the state’s electricity distribution businesses, causing power outages that impacted more than 500,000 homes and businesses.
As the climate changes catastrophic events and destructive weather patterns will become more frequent and more extreme and it is critical electricity distribution networks are able to mitigate, manage and recover quickly from these events.
This review will be undertaken in addition to investigations from Energy Safe Victoria into the tower collapse and the Australia Energy Market Operator into system response and security.