Touring the new Western Power control centre in East Perth, Gallop announced the utility had signed a four-year deal with the owners of the Parkeston power station in the WA Goldfields to provide the state with up to 35MW of electricity in periods of high demand.

He said this was the final element of plans to bolster power supplies now and in the long term.

"Western Power is now in a much better position to meet demand this summer with 15% more capacity than last year's peak," Gallop said.

"I am confident that Western Power will meet the power needs of the public this summer, barring any unexpected events."

The Premier said the Government was also tackling local faults with a $1.8 billion investment to upgrade the electricity network.

"We cannot stop local faults any more than you can stop lightning strikes and trees falling on power lines, but we can upgrade the network to handle the pressures that are on it," he said.

Gallop said power demand reached a record 3004MW in February 2004, and Western Power expected peak demand to reach up to 3150MW this year, well short of the available capacity of 3450MW.

He said the power purchase agreement with Trans Alta Energy and Newmont Australia Limited was made possible by a $7.2 million Western Power investment in beefing up the transmission line between the power station and the State's main power grid.

The construction of the transmission line was completed last month.

"The existing 33,000 volt transmission line connecting the power station to Western Power's South-West Interconnected System had limited capacity," the Premier said.

"The new 132,000 volt line will double the amount of electricity that can be fed into the grid. '

The value of the latest agreement lies in the additional capacity that can be sourced from Parkeston which is fired on gas from the Goldfields Gas Pipeline, rather than the Dampier-to-Bunbury natural gas pipeline.