An independent review into last year’s mass power outages that left some Tasmanians without electricity for 23 days has found TasNetworks was ‘not match fit’ to deal with the crisis.
The report, released today, highlights critical failures in the company’s emergency systems and communication during the August severe weather event that cut power to more than 216,000 customers across Tasmania.
Storm damage and the response cost TasNetworks over $20 million, including more than $10 million in compensation to affected households and businesses.
The company has since applied to the Australian Energy Regulator to recover $4.6 million of that cost from Tasmanian electricity customers in the years ahead.
Energy and Renewables Minister Nick Duigan ordered the review after a parliamentary push from independent MP Craig Garland, who called for a deeper look into how the power company handled the emergency.
The wild weather started on August 26, 2024, as back-to-back cold fronts battered the state over five days.
While wind gusts topped 100km/h in some areas, the report noted it was the sustained winds, not record-breaking speeds, that caused the most damage.
Around 60% of outages were due to falling vegetation, mostly from trees and branches outside the legal clearance zones crashing onto power lines.
One of the report’s most stinging criticisms was that TasNetworks’ website and communication systems failed to answer what it called “the most critical question” for customers: “Does TasNetworks know my power is out and when will it be restored?”
Many households and businesses were left in the dark, literally and figuratively, with little information to help them plan for extended outages.
Website updates often showed vague messages like “to be determined” or “under investigation” with no timestamps, sending people on a “seemingly endless merry-go-round searching for information”.
An elderly Launceston resident who gave evidence to the review described his experience as “primitive camping at home”.
“We tried to last it out, until we realised that it was not tenable,” he said. “We are older pensioners, with no access to a generator, with a single gas light, a single gas burner, no water except by bucket from our tank and so on.”
The review makes 19 recommendations, including creating a formal network resilience strategy, improving staff training for emergencies and lifting the standard of communication with customers during outages.
It also recommends TasNetworks take part in public emergency briefings during future events and look into developing community resilience toolkits and better access to temporary generators.
“The high level of outages and affected customers would have challenged the response of any electricity utility in Australia,” said reviewer Rhys Edwards.
“In the face of this unprecedented set of events the general feedback was that TasNetworks’ field crews and operational staff performed extremely well during the outage event with a high level of commitment to getting the power back on.”
TasNetworks CEO Sean McGoldrick said the crews’ response during the storm was “prompt and impressive” given the scale of the disaster.
“We acknowledge some customers’ challenges and frustration around timely and accurate communication. We’ve already embarked on ways to improve accuracy and timeliness,” he said.
“We acknowledge affected Tasmanians for their resilience as our people did everything possible to restore power as quickly as possible.”
Independent MP Craig Garland welcomed the report but raised concerns over the $20 million spent and plans to recover $4.6 million from customers via higher bills if approved.
“I believe this substantial expense reinforces the importance of investing in disaster resilient electricity infrastructure,” he said.
“As the saying goes, a penny spent might be a pound saved.”
