Western Power generators overheat during severe heatwave, affecting more than 500 Mid West homes

Fresh calls for more reliable power have erupted in WA towns following a power outage during a severe heatwave last week, with generators installed to tackle the problem unable to cope in the weather. A fallen power line caused homes in the Mid West to lose power for more than five hours, with residents unable to access any fans or cooling in temperatures of up to 42C. Western Power confirmed 580 homes and businesses in Mullewa, Pindar, Eradu, Moonyoonooka and surrounds lost power about 11am on Wednesday. The power was restored at about 4.30pm. According to Western Power’s website, some residents in the Waddy Forest, Womarden, Bunjil, Latham, Perenjori, Maya and Carnamah areas experienced an outage from just before 10am, with power estimated to be restored by 5pm. Geraldton woman Janice Park said the power outages in Mullewa had gone on for too long and more needed to be done to provide reliable backup power to residents. “These great big generators brought in years ago were supposed to power the town and keep everyone safe and healthy,” she said. “This has gone on for years and nobody is fixing the problem.” Her husband and youngest child, who lives with type 1 diabetes, reside in Mullewa. Ms Park said their household was without power for up to eight hours, which made keeping insulin cold a difficult task. In the past two months, Ms Park said she estimated there were about eight power outages in Mullewa — at least one a week. Standalone generators were installed in 2020 to provide a more reliable power supply to Mullewa residents, but on Wednesday temperatures caused them to trip. A Western Power spokesperson confirmed a built-in safety protection setting tripped generators off to ensure they wouldn’t be damaged. “While the generator was able to power the town site for a portion of the outage, the significant load on the network coupled with extreme heatwave conditions led to the asset overheating,” the spokesperson said. Ms Park said the generators should be built to withstand the temperatures in Mullewa. “Swap those generators out for ones that can stand the heat because that’s the conditions we’re living in out there,” she said. “Everyone out there pays their power bills, so why can’t they get the same conditions as everyone else in WA ... people can’t sit in 40C-plus houses and stay healthy, it’s not on.” Western Power said crews worked through challenging heatwave conditions to restore power to hundreds of homes and communicated directly with customers by text message. “We understand the inconvenience (the) outage affecting Mullewa and surrounds caused residents,” the spokesperson said. “Customers who experience an outage for longer than 12 consecutive hours can apply for an extended outage payment via Extended Outages Payment once power is reconnected.” Unreliable power in Mullewa has been in the limelight since 2015 and is an issue Opposition Leader Shane Love has raised for years. Mr Love said that Mullewa residents are forced to brave some of the worst power reliability in the state. “It is time the Labor Government take these outages seriously. People’s health is being gravely affected and businesses cannot operate,” he said. “This would be unacceptable for metro areas, and it should not be acceptable for Mullewa. The community deserves better.” In April this year, Mullewa’s only GP Dr Nalini Rao resigned over the recurring power outages after it made running her business nearly impossible. She revoked it after receiving a generator for her practice. Western Power invested $4 million in infrastructure upgrades and maintenance to help improve power reliability in the area and enhance network resilience to major weather events. Crews replaced more than 340 poles and more than 25km of conductors in the town and surrounding areas and replaced insulators and crossarms.