Western Power has come under repeated criticism for the danger to public safety and the interruption of the supply of power to consumers.
Western Power’s top two executives were sacked early this year in the aftermath of a pole top caused fire which killed two people in WA’s south west, and the corporation’s bungled handling of the situation.
Koenig was dispelling suggestions the fires and blackouts were out of the control of Western Power, instead being blamed on the weather conditions.
“My investigating Inspector advised yesterday that but for the very prompt and determined action by FESA firefighters, which included aerial water bombing, this fire would almost certainly have moved into the nearby banksia bush and pine plantations, with potentially disastrous results,” Director of Energy Safety, Albert Koenig said yesterday. “And this was only one of many pole top fires during the early part of this week.”
The causes and some solutions are well known and Koenig said it was “evident from the ongoing incidence of pole top fires that Western Power’s asset replacement program and its level of preventative maintenance is not working and that more needs to be done.”
Putting power underground seemed to be Western Power’s answer to pole top fires he said and in any case was a gradual process and one which was flawed once the city limits had been passed.
“Such a strategy does not deal with problems outside the Perth metropolitan area,” he said.
“Alternative long-term solutions include the systematic replacement of ageing wood poles and wood cross-arms with concrete or steel poles fitted with steel cross-arms and better insulators.
“This type of approach can be cost effective when all life cycle costs including comprehensive preventative maintenance are taken into account, and when economies of scale apply such as in the procurement of steel or concrete poles.
“To summarise, in my view Western Power should be committing to a long-term strategy to substantially reduce the occurrence of pole top fires, since these have to be seen as a major public safety threat and as a significant contributor to poor electricity network reliability.”
