The fight for reliable electricity in the northern reaches of the Douglas region continues to rage with the number of power outages in 2013 now well into double figures.

Malcolm McKellar has sustained a 15-year battle with energy provider, Ergon Energy, and has documented 18 outages on the Daintree Feeder in just three months.

Mr McKellar vented his frustration in an email to Geoff Bowes, Ergon's Regional Manager in the area, after the latest outage on 23 March.

"Geoff, the reliability of this Feeder falls far short of Ergon's mandated Customer Service Obligations, and is nothing short of a disgrace!

"We now demand urgent action from Ergon to improve the overall reliability of this Feeder, and to improve the redundancy of the line so that failures can be better isolated and more quickly resolved," Mr McKellar said.

He added that continued outages were "destroying peoples' confidence, the quiet enjoyment of their homes, the operation of their businesses, and their ability to get on with their lives. And not to mention, often their electric and electronic appliances."

In response, Mr Bowes outlined Ergon's action plan which included an investigation of the area where the latest fault occurred and the "vegetation failure" that caused it, and "the installation of a set of 22kv isolation links on the tee-off pole for the Bamboo Creek spur line which would facilitate an efficient means of isolating the spur line in the event of a future fault."

He added that large Royal Palms inside a private property at North Mossman, responsible for dropping fronds that resulted in a power outage on the Daintree feeder on Sunday 3 March, have been removed with the property owner’s consent.

Mr McKellar has delivered a detailed list of demands to Mr Bowes which he believes will result in vast improvements in the reliability of power to the area north of Killaloe Road and those areas serviced by the Cassowary sub-station, excluding Mossman whose power reliability is not in question.