Energy minister Eric Ripper said Western Power had ordered four 20MW mobile generators from the United States, as a back up to prevent the repeat of February’s power shortages which affected widespread parts of Western Australia.

He told State Parliament yesterday the decision was expensive but was critical to ensure the State met the summer power demands.

Ripper said the costs were $10.5 million for leasing the generators with $700,000 budgeted for internal management costs. The generators are planned to be run four hours a day for an estimated 10 critical days over the summer period, which is the last months prior to the State election. Ripper told Parliament he was unsure how much it would cost to operate the generators, in addition to the leasing and admin costs.

The generators will be fired by an oil stockpile Western Power has been accumulating in recent months at a cost of around $30 million.

Adding to the power uncertainties is the lack of maintenance carried out at Western Power’s Kwinana and Muja power stations. Workers from United KG and Siemens, the two companies which are implementing the stalled maintenance program at the two facilities, are on strike, seeking improved pay and conditions. They have been on strike for six weeks.

Western Power’s chief operating officer Doug Aberle warned this week that more power outages were on the cards if the workers did not return to work.

He appeared in the WA Industrial Relations Commission on Monday, testifying that Western Power’s maintenance program had been severely affected by the strike. He said if the workers did not return to work this week, summer electricity supplies could be compromised.

He said the generators at Muja and Kwinana were already showing signs of stress and needed repairing. Load shedding and rolling blackouts throughout Perth and the south west would be the result if any of the units broke down.