QUEENSLAND Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said he has addressed the maintenance concerns raised by unions about the state’s electricity network.
According to the minister, he called all parties in for urgent talks when the unions raised their concerns of safety and maintenance issues.
The unions provided the minister with documentation in relation to the issues, which were sent to the Electrical Safety Office (ESO). The ESO reported no systemic electricity safety problems.
However, the minister asked for detailed responses from Ergon and Energex regarding network maintenance. These were scrutinised and examined by an independent expert.
Ergon’s maintenance program was found to have significant backlog, and there were also delays in replacing copper conductors. The electricity company was given eleven recommendations to implement.
Although the process found increased reliability of the network, there were areas for improvements, such as replacing old cross arms and conflicting information on the condition of substations.
The minister says he has enabled workers with safety and maintenance concerns to raise them directly with the Boards and Ergon and Energex.

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