Just prior to Christmas on 20 December 2024, Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio released the Government’s response to the Network Outage review, supporting all 19 recommendations in full, in part, or in principle with a view to supporting a resilient electricity distribution network that is more responsive to energy outages and puts Victorian homes and businesses at the heart of emergency responses.
The Government initiated the independent Network Outage Review following the February 13 storm event, which caused widespread damage to around 12,000 kilometres of powerlines lines, and left over 531,000 customers off power supply at its peak.
“We’re making sure privately-owned power companies put Victorians first when responding to storm events and make reconnecting Victorians to power supply their priority,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“These changes make sure privately-owned power companies are ready to respond, involving them in emergency planning early and ensuring they have enough resources in the right places to undertake emergency repairs.”
Implementing these recommendations aims to ensure Victoria’s privately-owned electricity transmission and distribution businesses are better equipped to prevent, prepare for, and respond to severe weather events.
‘We’ve gone to communities, we’ve listened to them, and we’ve built a plan to drive better outcomes for Victorians to ensure the resilience of our transmission network and power is restored as quickly as possible after storm events,” Member for Monbulk Daniela De Martino said.
The Review was led by an Independent Expert Panel, which met with affected communities and ensured that the electricity businesses heard firsthand the experiences of those impacted.
In response to the review, the Government will strengthen oversight and accountability of electricity businesses, by requiring them report on their emergency risk management practices annually, including emergency resources, systems, processes and arrangements with contractors to do repair works.
The Government will help Victorians impacted by prolonged outages get access to emergency funds sooner – the Extended Loss of Supply Support Payment Scheme (ELOSS Payment) will require distribution businesses to financially support customers during prolonged power outages after 72 hours.
The final design of this scheme and payment amounts will be subject to consultation.
The Government will also formalise resource sharing arrangements between all network businesses to ensure they have the right staff in the right place for a quick response to outages and reduce restoration times for customers.
Distribution businesses will also have to participate in Regional Emergency Management Planning Committees and participate emergency exercises to test implementation of these recommendations from the 13 February event.
For more information go to energy.vic.gov.au/about-energy/safety/network-outage-review.
