The single highest priority of any electricity network is to provide a stable and reliable supply of power.

The ALP in SA pledged at the elections to fix the electricity system and install an interconnector to lower the price of power in SA. Some years later we find SA with the highest electricity prices in Aus, and clearly the least stable, which collapsed after a larger than normal storm.

Weatherill, Labor and the Greens are spinning madly to convince the voters that the system collapse had nothing to do with their poor investment choices with respect to the grid.

Labor over the decade has ignored warnings from the network providers etc that the over reliance on wind and solar had made the network vulnerable. And with the compulsory purchasing of renewable power the stable and reliable coal and gas energy suppliers have closed, leaving the network dependent on the interconnection with Victoria.

When the storm took out several grid towers (clearly insufficiently well built) the network collapsed threatening the viability of industries and jobs. Given labors more than decade long time in power the buck stops firmly at Weatherill's door.

shows how dumbed down SA have become over the last decade.

If you think renewables played a part in SA's statewide power cut, perhaps you can suggest a credible mechanism as to how? Do you seriously think coal or nuclear power would have prevented the pylons from blowing over?

No matter how much you and the Libs try to spin this as a renewable energy issue, the facts say otherwise. This is a network reliability issue that's got very little (if anything) to do with how the electricity's generated. And there are certainly questions that need answering, but you seem less interested in finding the real answers than in blaming renewables and the ALP.

I can't remember who was in power in the 1990s when the decision was made to build the Heywood Interconnector, but I'm fairly sure the Libs were in power when it opened. It was a Liberal state government, encouraged by a Liberal federal government, that chose to sell off the power stations, and when they did it resulted in Enron style market manipulation and supply problems. Wind and solar power have greatly reduced the potential do do this, and have driven wholesale prices down (though the way it's funded has had the opposite effect). Profiteering by the privatised infrastructure companies is also a problem – it adds to the cost and is part of the reason why there's no direct connection to NSW or Queensland.

BTW closure of the coal fired power station at Port Augusta was due mainly to economic reasons: it was old and very inefficient. It wasn't located right next to the coal mine, so the coal had to be brought in by rail. And the nearest coal mine was running out of coal.

Aidan,

Irrespective of the reasons for the failure, a state wide blackout is a cock up of monumental proportions, a 50yr storm while unusual is well within design requirements (buildings are built to withstand 200yr storms) and should not be able to take out an entire network.

SA has received many reports and assessments by experts that highlighted the risks, so much so that it became a core election promise by Labor to install the second interconnector to reduce electricity costs and to improve reliability, which was yet another lie. Instead they invested a ton of cash into renewables which pushed power prices higher and made the network less reliable.

"South Australia gets its electricity from wind, solar and gas but no longer has coal power after Alinta’s Northern Power Station and Playford A station at Port Augusta closed in May. It followed the closure of the Playford B in 2012. At the time, Australian Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said the closure would leave the state with less back-up energy on days of high demand. The state would need to rely on renewable energy and the interconnector which provides electricity from Victoria for base-load power.

“The reality for South Australians is that we’re in uncharted waters,” Mr Warren said in May. “There’s an increased level of risk that we really haven’t seen before anywhere in the world, so it doesn’t mean we’ll have more blackouts, hopefully if we’re smart we can sort out solutions so power supply can be the same as usual, but it’s an increased risk.”

This week’s blackout was not the first time South Australia has felt the impact of losing its supply from Victoria. It also experienced a blackout in some parts of Adelaide, Barossa Valley, Port Pirie and west coast region late last year. That was blamed on the failure of the interconnector."

I guess the Electricity pylons being blown over had nothing to do with electricity outage.

Jayb,

The answer is that they shouldn't have.