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Massive' electricity woes as serious as water supply to SA irrigators

Wednesday, 7 Dec 2016 13:21:23 | Isabel Dayman

Irrigators say they need reliable power to pump water on their properties. (ABC Rural: Mary Goode)

The price and reliability of electricity supply have emerged as issues as serious as adequate water resources, according to irrigators in South Australia's Riverland.

Today, they delivered that message to Premier Jay Weatherill when he visited the town of Renmark, ahead of a Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting on Friday.

Every COAG meeting will discuss the progress of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, under a commitment made by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

While Mr Weatherill used his Riverland visit to stress the importance of the basin plan's full delivery, local irrigators raised issues with power.

Some suggested that soaring prices and reliability of supply were of even greater concern than the amount of water coming down the river.

Irrigator and Berri Barmera Council Deputy Mayor Andrew Kassebaum described recent electricity problems as "massive".

"With the two blackouts this year, as an irrigator I can't afford to lose pumping capacity because my crops won't last more than 24 hours without water," he said.

"You can all the water in the river you like, but if we can't pump it, the [Basin Plan] is a pointless exercise and it will all go to environmental water."

"I've been an irrigator since 1995 and this is the first time the stability of the network has been an issue."

However, it is not the first time that power prices have been an issue.

Just two years ago another riverland irrigator reported his electricity bill had jumped 62 per cent since 2012.

The Energy Market Operator confirmed at the time that the Riverland faced higher network charges, arguing that it needed to recover costs on a power line running through the Riverland into Victoria.

Leon Stasinowsky and Jay Weatherill talk Photo: Mayor of Loxton Waikerie council Leon Stasinowsky (L) makes his views known to Premier Jay Weatherill during the Renmark visit. (ABC News: Isabel Dayman)

Premier Jay Weatherill said he would be taking irrigators' power concerns to COAG and making them a priority along with water issues.

"We need a national electricity market, not a series of state markets," he said.

"We have a national electricity market in name, but it doesn't work for South Australia.

"Just because we're on the end of the river [system] and at the end of the transmission line doesn't mean that we should be last in the consideration of our national Government."

Mr Weatherill maintained he was still committed to securing an extra 450 gigalitres of environmental water under the basin plan but said it was not possible without the support of Federal Water Minister Barnaby Joyce.

"We're on the way to Canberra on Friday to stand up for South Australia," he said.

AustraliaPlus


 

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