A POSITIVE move by the power company SP AusNET will see half a million dollars spent to upgrade the power supply to Beechworth, helping to prevent another blackout similar to the one that affected the town on Black Saturday.
The project will see the introduction of new technology that will pinpoint the section of a power line where a fault has occurred and redirect power around that section via a different route.
The power outage at Beechworth was identified in the final report by the bushfire royal commission as a major issue in the timely response to the bushfire that broke out outside the town in February 2007.
The lack of power meant there were difficulties for those attempting to bring together the appropriate resources at an incident control centre in the town.
The impact of the extended power outage was also frightening for those living in the town and surrounding areas, and no doubt more than 3000 customers in Beechworth, Stanley, Gapsted, Wooragee and Whorouly will welcome the project to upgrade their power supply.
Indigo Council’s smart move to request ongoing meetings with supply companies such as SP AusNet has yielded its first win.
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