Western Power is still accused of being a basket case on a wide variety of fronts - its performance remains a serious political issue with a state election less than two weeks away.
But it seems Energex has mastered its technical issues, leaving only questions about executive credibility and integrity remaining amid accusations of a police investigation concerning corporate fraud.
High temperatures hit Queensland last week and despite the air conditioning-driven spike in power demand in south-east Queensland, premier Peter Beattie claimed success as the much-maligned Energex network held firm under the load.
Beattie said there were only eight unrelated incidents on 7 February which resulted in a loss of power in a network used by more than 1.1 million consumers and stretching across 25,000 square kilometres.
The largest outage involved just over 2,000 homes and another involved only a one minute interruption to 1,340 customers to allow emergency repairs to a faulty air break switch, according to Beattie.
His government has boosted up the Energex staff and maintenance program investment levels and stimulated apprentice intake levels, in the wake of a terrible year in which among other things, Energex CEO Greg Maddock committed suicide after being allegedly scapegoated for Energex’s failings and aspects of his relocation package from NSW.
But now the government must find someone to permanently take the chief executive officer’s position with acting CEO Gordon Jardine declining to stay on after his nightwatchman term ends in June.
And even worse, much of the gloss has now come off Beattie's hard work with the revelation Queensland police were investigating allegations of serious fraud against a former Energex senior employee.
The Australian Financial Review today reported an Energex internal audit had uncovered ‘serious breaches of corporate policy’ by the former employee. The allegations have been forwarded to the Queensland police and the Audit Office with the police confirming an investigation was underway.
The company was reported as saying, “the Energex board will not condone breaches of corporate policy and we will thoroughly examine any claims that are raised and take appropriate actions.”
With the political temperature in Western Australia rising due to the looming election, and the opposition looking to exploit every opportunity, WA premier Geoff Gallop can only look with some envy at how Beattie has largely neutralised the Energex issue.
While Beattie's government stepped up to the challenge posed by ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure and has vastly improved Energex's recent performance, Gallop has been dragged down by the millstone of many Western Power legacy issues.
Tens of thousands of WA business and residential customers have lost power in recent weeks despite a mild summer.
In anticipation of a heatwave, Western Power imported multi-million dollar standby generators from the US and created a $10 million oil inventory to fuel the generators if needed, but the while the waether has been relatively mild, the political heat temperature is still uncomfortably hot for Gallop.
Western Power has been flooded with calls for compensation due to the widespread blackouts it says were caused by an unusual combination of events outside its control – ash from recent bushfires, drizzle and humidity.
The West Australian newspaper is running a ‘Blackout Hotline’ and currently publishing a daily map of areas which experienced power failures the previous day. This is sure to make Geoff Gallop cringe over his cornflakes every morning, adding to the pressure as he counts down the days until the 26 February election.
WA opposition leader Colin Barnett will not have it all his own way however, with his record as former energy minister under fire. Current energy minister Eric Ripper said the worst years for pole top fires were those when Barnett was minister – 1994, 1997 and 1998 when there were more than 630 fires per year.
Ripper also claimed the worst year for blackouts was when Barnett was minister in 1999-2000.
