WESTERN POWER — SUPPLY ALLOCATION
571. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Energy:
I
think this is an appropriate question following that answer. I refer to the
review into Western Power's supply allocation for single-phase
rural residential properties in WA, which treats people in rural WA like
second-class citizens.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order, please!
Members!
Several members interjected.
Mr P.J. RUNDLE: I ask —
The SPEAKER: Wait for quiet,
please. We have had the joke. I would now like to hear the question from the
member without interruption.
Mr P.J. RUNDLE: Thank you,
Madam Speaker. I will continue.
(1) As the
purported government of renewables and electric vehicles, how does the minister's
comment that ''Western Power's
network will be the backbone that supports decarbonisation'' reconcile
with the fact that solar power providers,
small businesses and rural residential customers are shut out of the renewable
market?
(2) When will the review into supply
allocation be completed and will this be tabled in Parliament?
Mr W.J.
JOHNSTON replied:
Thank you for the question.
(1)–(2) There is a lot of confusion about this particular
issue. One part of the confusion is that the tripping of safety switches
that occurs inside the residence of the person with the power system is about
the Western Power network. I make it clear that it has been nearly 20 years
since EnergySafety WA required the installation of safety switches in
residences in Western Australia. The point at which they are installed is when
any work is done on the home owner's
side of the meter. If a home owner gets a solar panel installed, they are
required by law—not by Western
Power, but by EnergySafety WA—to install a safety switch, and the
safety switch has the same capacity
as their connection to the network. In the metropolitan area, where the normal
connection is 62 amps, it is a 62-amp safety switch. In a regional area of Western
Australia, where the home owner paid for a 32-amp
connection, the switch is 32 amps. Unfortunately, because houses now use
a lot more electricity than they did in the past, these safety switches are
tripping more often in regional Western Australia.
There is a fundamental misunderstanding by the member and others that this is
somehow about city versus country. Everybody pays for their own
connection; they pay 100 per cent of the cost of the installation of their
connection. In the 1960s and 1970s when these installations were done, they
were done at a 32-amp capacity. It is not new. There is no change here. The
only change is the installation of the 32-amp safety switch. There is a tip in
the term—''safety switch''. I do not understand why
people are making this a political issue.
Some
parts of the regional community get three-phase 20-amp power. Because there
needs to be a 20-amp switch on each
circuit, Western Power is looking at whether it is possible to give a 60-amp
supply, because there are three 20-amp switches. That is what it is
reviewing. It is not a political review; it is a technical engineering review.
Let
us say that somebody sets up a bed and breakfast. If their residence is now moving
to a business, they can pay for the upgrade of the connection. If they
want 62 amps, they can pay for it, but of course it might cost them tens of
thousands of dollars. What are we supposed to do? Let us assume that there are
50 000 32-amp connections and each one costs $10 000 to install. That is $500 million.
Is the member actually asking the taxpayers of Western Australia to pay
one-third of the cost of the children's hospital to upgrade these
installations, not for the benefit of the community, but for the benefit of the
person with the 32-amp connection?
I understand the challenge here.
Solar panels can be installed on a 32-amp connection. The reason that the installers do not want to do it is that they
do not want to put the safety switch in because then they will be blamed
for the safety switch. It is not the Western Power network that is causing the
trouble; it is the fact that people have been drawing beyond the 32-amp
connection. Why is that a problem? It is because it can lead to problems on both the customer side and, as importantly,
the Western Power side. If there was an easy solution, it would be
implemented. The idea that somehow this is a choice is the sort of behaviour
that we get from members of the National Party. They say that it is unfair and
we are choosing to do this, when it is just a fact that that is the size of the
connection. I cannot use a wand to change any of these installations that were
done when I was not even in Western Australia.