This Viewpoint was written by Malcolm McKellar in response to a reported power failure on 8 February 2012 to the Douglas area.

We in the old Douglas Shire area know that we live in the country and at the end of the line as far as power distribution is concerned.

However, the nearly four-hour power failure yesterday evening (8 February 2012), just as families prepared for dinner, is unacceptable given that Ergon has an alternative, extremely reliable supply line into the area in the form of its 132kV transmission line which was installed in the mid-90s to provide reliable power for the tourism industry in Port Douglas.

As anyone who could see Port Douglas last night during the power failure is aware, Port was ablaze with light right through the failure episode - as it was during the recent lengthy failures of 29

November, 1 December, 20 December, 4 January, and 24 January (and good luck to them).

It is high time that Ergon honoured a promise to land-holders whose land the 132kV line crosses (and, at the time, I was one) to dismantle the very old and very vulnerable 66kV line and to switch its customers who are on that line – everyone in the old Shire area except Port Douglas residents – onto the 132kV supply at the Cassowary sub-station where both lines converge, and to bring the remainder of the Shire into the 21st century.

I would like to think that our big new Regional Council, our local Councillor Julia Leu, our State Member Jason O’Brien, and the new candidate(s) for the electorate of Cook, would strongly and vocally commit to having Ergon get this done this year.

It is outrageous that this was not done 10 to 12 years ago, and there is no excuse for not doing it now!

Malcolm McKellar 

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