Origin Energy - they were told to fuck off today.

 Epic Fail?

I think so too.

When I started  with them, I moved into a new place,  all my stuff was in storage and I had few a blankets, a pillow and the carpet and one light bulb - and that was it - for like 6 weeks.

At the end, they served up a power bill of something like $600 or whatever...

So I said, "Noooo fuck you. I am not paying that."

So it was on for young and old - and eventually they relinquished - saying it must have been the dry cleaners doing the carpets - before I moved in...

Yes using atomically powered 50,000 watt carpet steam cleaners on enough carpet to cover 5 basket ball courts and surrounds three times over.

Only there is very little carpet in the place, power was at 19c per KWH and it's 2 or 3 hours job - that is a very, very, very thoroughly clean piece of carpet type job,

But the outlet only puts out 10A - so 2.4Kw for 2 hours comes to almost ONE whole dollar...

However the proper visit your home steam cleaners, use their own steam generators that create FAR MORE steam than a 10A outlet - that that argument is on it's arse.

A cheap back door to the embarrassment of getting caught out?

Dopey bludging meter readers and estimated accounts? Fucking lazy administration - making up fictitious "user pays" numbers to cover up for their combined laziness....

What? Didn't read the meters when the previous people moved on?

Decided to add their IOU's to my account, to cover up for their fuck ups?

Lying cunts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then we had the MAJOR long running electrical fault that caused the lights of the building to flicker on and off as something major in the circuit arced. This went on for several hours a day, around 3 days a week for months - destroying computers etc., etc., etc....

Dozens of phone calls to them - fingers in the arse responses..... nothing but buck passing bullshit for like 6 months.

Eventually they sent out two drongos - who between beer-o-clock and lunch, were seen to be filling out the forms and doing the bullshit - but not actively listening to ME the expert, and NOT putting their line monitoring equipment on for 3 whole days to capture an event? - no...

After I told them that it usually occurs in the afternoons, the bastards decided to keep on hooking up the line metering box between 5pm and take it back off at 9am... the next day.

Lazy cunts?

Or corporate stooges keeping the issues off the system - as told too by the managers.

So with my electrical genius and telepathic powers... the THIRD time these hands on their cocks "Dinkum Aussie - Aww Mate, Awwww Mate" beer swilling bludgers came out - through the use of my magical telepath powers, greatly enhanced through my mighty "Jesus-a-tron - creation of the universe wall sticks" - Jesus, Gay Saviour and Lover of All Men, made sure their equipment "registered" the line fault.

This is where it got really fucking interesting... (Jesus - He makes everything interesting)

The thing was that their sleazy management team - were prepared to give me the results of the first two tests, but not the third...... (or was it the fifth time?)

That particular test - that had the "Oh my god - Jesus Fucking Christ" effect - they said, "went missing".

And the people I talked too lied and buck passed and bullshitted and gave me the run around no end.....

Their excuses ran along the lines of,  "Oh Oh the dog ate, my homework - um no I meant the test,  - and then the dog down the street ate the first dog, and then a dragon with a unicorn shit fetish, from Mount Olympus, ate the second dog and then a creationist based mystical 500K wide asteroid hit the dragon and spread it's atoms around the universe," loosely translated into "Oh it really has gone missing" type bullshit.


 It's gone missing from the machine that recorded it.

It's missing from the computer they COPIED the recording onto.

The works based printout of the TEST - that they produced went missing.

The job orders that were emailed / faxed to the cherry picker truck - the basis of those orders - went missing.... "Oh we just sent them out cause ummmm it seemed like a good idea..... Ummmmm."

Fucking bullshit it did - the admin in Origin and Powercor were covering it all up in full force.

They did not want the record of the transients getting into the public domain.

They did not want me or anyone else taking an issue with all the gear their arcing power lines had ruined.

So they lied about it to me and covered it up - with retarded bullshit.


You see the mains power is supposed to be at 240V RMS - and it can go up by 30V and down by 30V - for periods of time... and still be considered to be within the prescribed limits... (been ages since I have looked this up).  So as long as their supply meets that, they will sit on their arses.... and do nothing.

But when the transients, and excursions of voltage fluctuations exceed the voltage levels and times for those levels - that only come about as a serious line fault, is when they will take action - and if it's really bad - then they shit themselves.

Like a voltage drop from 240V AC RMS - down to 80V - for 3/100 of a second - may simply be a possum daintly crossing the 2200 volt lines on top of the power poles...

But for it to drop to 80V or 50V or 10V on the domestic supply - and stay there for 5 or 10 seconds...

Different matter all together.

When your lights are dimming and flickering - and this kind of event is at the other end of the wires down the street - they get a move on all rightey.





For a test that did not exist and could not be found and they had no record of, on the equipment that recorded the power excursions, the computer it was copied too, the print out is was printed onto etc; - the cherry picker truck turned up rather fucking quickly and they started fault tracing along the final leg of the transmission line.

They went directly to the end stage step down transformer - out with the binoculars, and out with the point to point resistance testing of the live lines,  as they drove down the street and then up went the cherry picker to the connection plates inside the box at the top of the pole, to the overhead wires that ran across the road......

(making these following figures up to illustrate the point, rather than being technically correct)

First off - the transformer - that runs the local area, well that had been cranked up to the max, much like an old wire wound transformer type welder - and making this number up for demonastrative purposes, it was putting out enough power for 50 houses, in a 70 house area... (so to speak) - meaning that everyone was living in a perpetual brown out, with an overloaded transformer.

Overloaded transformers - even with all the oil bath cooling and all that - will easily cope with running at 130% of their rated output... but the higher the load drawn on them, that they cannot supply, the higher the probability of the transformer going tits up from overheating.

For instance, like it's 46*C, everyone has the air con on, and their is NO wind to cool the transformer at all as it bakes at the top of the pole in the hot sun...

Not sure of the fusing types in them or on them - either thermal or simple load rated fuses or both... but when the transformer gets too hot, and or too much power is being drawn through it - it either switches off thermally, or the main fuse to it blows.

Either way it's cheaper to replace a fuse than it is a transformer....

But the fact remains that they had that pole transformer wound right out and there was insufficient capacity for all the load down line of it.


 So  they checked and replaced the transformer - with a BIGGER larger capacity one.

(naughty - naughty - running overloaded transformers - tisk, tisk, tisk....)

And as they did the step by step tracing to my place, they found that a set of big connector plates, that fit onto the ends of cable A and cable B - so they can be bolted together up at the top of the power pole, inside a box - were as loose as anything and had been arcing and burning away - arc welder style, for a long time.

Off the top of my head the 3 phase cables looked like they carry 200A each... as a matter of course.

The worker who I talked too said as he descended from heaven with Jesus and his 12 boy friends in the cherry picker, "I have been working on power lines for 20 years and I have never seen anything like this before." - as he came back to earth in the cherry picker with the burnt connector plates in his hands.....

Funny about the cover ups, the non existent test results, the cherry picker truck appearing "like the next day" and the BIG connector plates coming down, all burnt to the shit house... from all the arcing between them...

After some 50 phone calls over 6 months and Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee doing their bullshit line tests.....

There are two types of faults... The ho-hum finger in the arse ones...

And then there are the ones from power line branches that travel through the mountains, where is has not rained for 5 years, and everything is bone dry and it's been 45*C for the last month - and it's really hot and really windy....

And the circuit breakers are switching on and off like mad - as if the idiots putting up that line did not bother to put in seperators, and the wires swinging gently in the gale force winds, just happen to be touching each other and sending out a shower of sparks.... and tripping the circuit breakers...

Well these kinds of faults get acted on "immediately" - that is the kind of fault I had here, and it's the test that showed the fault, that they shit bricks over and hid...



So when it comes to the administration of Origin Energy and Powercor and their shitty line maintenance that sets half the country on fire - and them being honest about anything - "Naaaaaa I have seen their administrative bare faced bullshit and lying in action."

Google - "Origin Energy" "Powercor" Victoria bushfires - turns up some interesting things.

http://www.switchwise.com.au/blogs/index.php/2010/08/01/the-2009-victorian-bushfires-royal-commission-report-on-electricity-caused-fires/

Yesterday, the VBRC delivered its Final Report. Whilst there were many causes of the bushfires, a staggering five of the eleven major fires that began that day were caused by failed electricity assets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have had a genius level meter reader who creatively predating the bills - saying if you don't pay up within 14 days we will disconnect you, and predating it to 12 days before hand - on the day he sticks it in the letter box - on the Friday afternoon - so come Monday - your out of time....

So I am thinking, "What is a meter reader doing with account information - as to who owes what? And what is he doing writing that on a "I visited your premises today to read your meter" notice?

His hand writing was very shakey - so he must have been in impending DT's and rushing off to the pub at Beer-O'-Clock....

More of their shifty administrative bullshit.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From time to time, we have had "estimated accounts" speculated on the wildly ambitious side - where I assume the meter reader was off drunk that month - so rather than actually get a reading, they made one up...

And instead of estimating along the lines of your typical usage, and saying that you have a bill of $300 for that quarter, they plucked a figure out of there arses and said, we will dump a bill in your lap of $900 and say "Pay Up for what we made up".

More fighting over that....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the most recent fights, was that right after the smart meter change over, they  bumped up the last bill a heap and that was another fight - telling me that the daily usage has essentially multiplied by 10 times the regular amount.

No bullshit...

Yes.. overnight - we have gone from several people under the one roof, to 40 people living under the one roof - all using electric hot water and using the air con and heating and watching 20 TV's and cooking a cow a day on an electric spit - 24/7 super high power consumption....

Add in electric lighting for the dope crop - in the middle of summer, I got 40 acres of that growing under lights in the toilet.

Escalating interests from gluing up model ships, to welding up full size working copies of them...

Lots of welding always adds squillions of dollars to the power bill....

Never mind that the previous 10 years of power use were fuck all - suddely it's jumped by 10 times the usual amount and the fucking dummies - nothing has clicked...

Maybe "Dodgy Dick the Drunken Meter Reader" wanted to make one more imaginary reading as a gesture of good will, before they shipped him off to rehab for good.

Yeahhhhhhhhh - It all happened on the same day the meters were changed over.

Change from the normal mechanical meter to the smart meter and the daily power use goes up by 10 times the daily amount?

Fuckwits.

Another fucking fight....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

See Origin Energy and Powercor amalgamated - into the one company - with different bits....

And.....

There are TWO sorts of repairs...  "Proper and to specification" repairs and then there is the "This is not right, but it will work for the time being" - the temporary repair.

After the floods came through and we had like a meter of water or more, through the yards, some of the electrics went under water.

There is a big junction box - running about 600A at 3 phase at ground level, and then there is the power board on the wall. The junction box went under and so did the bottom third of the power board.

Well after the water went down and much of Victoria had been flooded, all the electrical gear had to be checked.

Given how fucking ineptly this whole Origin Energy / Powercor organisation is run...

The guys - rather than get some ply or MDF or whatever... and cut a few pieces from it, mark it out, drill it,  give it a good coat of urethane and mount all the cables and connectors to it and then mount that or those boards....

What they did to the junction box, was they simply taped the cables up in a bunch and left it to look like a "bouquet of flowers" with live and exposed ends and cable connectors poking out - with lovely streamers of loose insulating tape to finish it off.

And they stuck the junction box back over the lot and fucked off..

This may have been - to all concerned, OK under the circumstances - but as large bits of Victoria got back on it's feet, the job should have been marked as a temporary repair and the follow up should have come, to mount the cables on a board, and to have it all properly laid out and bolted up.

But most domestic repair people, do carry boards and a circular saw, or they pick up some and a tin of urethane etc., at the local hardware shop....  and do it then and there - but not the Powercore guys....

By all accounts, they have to send away for the boards and then get them sent up....


The junction box, although it was hazardously wired - in a sense.... it was inside "a sort of locked down fibre glass box", and if you don't fuck with it, you don't get electrocuted - but it's still not done properly.

There is none of this safety switch shit - it's live and I think each cable was capable of carrying 400 - 600A - as it's normal current carrying capacity - direct from the power lines - and there is a fuse at the top of the pole that should you be roasted on that much power, the fuse probably will never blow and you cook to char in minutes.

That is one topic.

Now we get to the POWER BOARD with the meters on it... well the bottom 1/3 had water damage from the flood and live wires were sticking out etc....

It's a big cabinet.. about 1.2 meters wide and high....

Well allowing time to transition from getting it up and running, to getting it running safely - after the floods...

In two years, despite my making quite a few phone calls and sending photos of the cabinet internals with bare live wires poking out from behind the wood that had fallen away....

In some 2 years, about 20 vans and 4WD service trucks... some with two people and some with one, making some 35 people - have all turned up, scratched their arses, had a look, filled out some paper work and then fucked off......

That is how that cabinet stayed - bare live wires poking out.... into a non locked cabinet that was held closed with some wire...

Finally though - the people running this organisation had stalled on the repairs, until the smart meter change over happened and then they replaced the timber work inside the cabinet, fixed up the wiring, and installed the meters.

I don't think this is very fucking good.

I dislike the legal thing about fucking with the mains power - in terms of unqualified people  working on the mains power while being unlicensed and no permits etc., or hooking things up to the mains like dodgy inverters or generators etc.,  meaning your possibly endangering other peoples lives, risking fires and electrifying the power lines during outages etc....

HUGE fines and gaol kind of repercussions......

But when it comes to the people from the power company leaving live wiring hanging out - "Wha? Wha problem - I turned up, filled out the paper work and fucked off  - I did my job..." some 35 of them - well that makes it all fucking right - doesn't it.

35 people, 20 trucks, dozens of visits..... fuck all done.

Live exposed wiring....

Open the cabinet door - "See that pink shit in the middle there? That's copper - that's got the electricity in it...".

No protective safety switch in that part of the circuit - just kill you stone dead.

I did meet some pretty decent people - pretty committed to fixing the fucking lot - but the collective stalling on the repairs for 2 years, and ONLY doing the repairs, when the meters were changed  to smart meters - Ethics, Safety, Service, Responsibility?

Fuck off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


So this is how another "Origin Energy" bullshit trip starts....

I make a payment... two weeks later, another payment etc., for years.

One week I make a payment - with an account number, a week later, they then they sent out a letter saying, "We have no record of anyone at this place having an account with us - please contact us within 14 days to establish an account - or we will disconnect the power.."

A week after this I make another payment - with an account number.... and another and another..... every two weeks... same account number, same payment method..... 


No notification of moving out, no changing of account holders, no change of the person paying the bills -  nothing - but one more idiot scheme from them, more intrusions, more bullshit, more games, more phone calls etc..

These dumb fucks don't get it that the nature of our relationship is I use the power, I pay for the power - beyond that - they can fuck off - or start paying me $250 an hour for my time - giving such excellent advice as, "Plug in the toaster and drop it in the bath with you - it will help you see god."



So they disconnected the power or threatened too, again....

But the fucking funny thing is that the solicitors letters to the account holder they had no record of, every couple of weeks they would send out another demand for payment - and the amount demanded, was showing all the payments being made....

From the account that had already been established - for like 15 years, from the account holder who's name it was in, who was making the payments.

And the same thing was going on with their own letters of demand...

Every payment being made, from the person who had the account, using the account number, and who was making the payments, was showing up as reductions on the amounts in their letters of demand..... that they were sending to the person, who they had suddenly decided to claim, that they had no knowledge of ever holding an account, at the same premises, they had been sending the same bills too.....


And again - another fucking fight.

These useless cunts of human beings are SO stupid.......

Fuck....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 weeks ago... they sent me an ANGRY RED LETTER saying PAY UP OR ELSE....

LOL

And today they decided to switch the power off - during the 20 minutes of the day I was actually down the shops.... During that odd statistical anomoly....

Fuck Off.

And today - I complained to the power industry ombudsman - again.

And today a big knob in the complaints dept at Origin left a voice mail.

I again rang this person back and when faced with the "We have to identify you" bullshit - of me using the power for decades, and me paying the bills for decades, and them all going to and coming from the same address..... calling them back on the number they just called me on....

I just said, "If the power is not back on within the hour - we are not going to get it back on ever again. We are going solar."


The power was not back on within the hour... and this was followed by a huge and final cementing of the decision to commit into solar and renewables full time.

On with the generator, a phone call for a 20A battery charger, fill the fridge and ice box with some water containers @ 80% full - for the thermal inertia and then turn that up high and let it run for 2 hours a day - and start wiring up the panels.


"Bye Bye Origin Electricity" - "Hello stand alone solar electric and hot water system."


Out with the soup tin metho cookers.... LOL - Pizza for dinner in the cast iron fry pan.

Love it - camping out in my own home.


Charge up the laptop during some net time when the generator is running during the day and then run it from the battery at night.

Well a small plan change.....

The word from some guy in the power ombudsmans office was that I had to switch off all the circuit breakers and then turn on the ON switch for the whole building and then turn on the lights...

He forgot to mention the safety switch as well.....

So this morning I flicked on all the circuit breakers and LO - we have lighting.

Since the fuckwits in Origin Energy have been basically utter pricks to deal with from the very word go, I have been only too happy to make them crawl 5 miles over broken glass for every cent they get.

I just decided a few months back to pay down the bill, get rid of them and close the account and go solar.

For the last few months I have been paying ~$100 + every two weeks.

(and I use fuck all power generally speaking - so I am making rather excellent progress to getting the bill paid off )


What came in the email from a bozo in Origin Energy -

The first one was, "Hi we have been trying to call you, can you ring me to discuss an issue with us?"

The reply. "So your sending me an email to tell me that you cannot contact me. OK"



The genius woke up and had to commit it to print.

"Lets put you on a payment plan, where you make payments of $76 every two weeks....."

The response went back, "Fuck Off."



That is "Fuck Off" for contacting me.

"Fuck Off" - for sending me stupid time wasting bullshit.

"Fuck Off" - for trying to lock me into a payment plan, when I am paying way more than that in the first place... Idiot.

And "Fuck Off" for not leaving me alone, with their stupid corporate shit for brains bullshit.

I don't even want to hear from them.....

And me - getting locked into a payment plan, that is designed for the next 12 months?

Ummmm where in the fuck did they get the idea that I want to be employing them for even one more day?

Just utter fucking fuckwits.

They just can't help themselves.....

Even to the point of being deeply into the blatantly obvious "Oh Duh!" territory.

I am paying my bill far at a far higher rate, than their idiot "plan" that they concocted - and they are too fucking stupid to even "get it"...

Awwww and if I don't go on their idiot payment plan? What then? Disconnect me for paying more than they say I should - without their fucking plan?

 Time for some comic relief..... Stay tuned for the part - "A text book case of stupid."






So these fuckers from Origin whine to the people in the ombudsmans office....


And the folks in the Ombudsmans office send me this shit.

Dear Idiot

I refer to your enquiry raised with the Energy and Water Ombudsman Victoria (EWOV)

Your enquiry has been referred to me due to your response below.

Origin wishes to confirm the following information

·         Reconnection of electricity for supply address  Blah blah blah

·         Your last invoice was issued on blah blah blah...

·         Payments have been made towards the account reducing your outstanding balance to around $500 as of today’s date

·         Your next scheduled read date will occur blah, blah, blah.

·         No payment arrangement has been recorded on your account. (well they fucked up there too - as I have the paperwork)

As per the below email trail Origin has been unable to communicate an appropriate payment arrangement in regards to your Ombudsman enquiry.

As previously advised Origin can offer you an official payment arrangement for $76 per fortnight which will cover your arrears and ongoing usage for the next 12 months. If you were to enter into a payment arrangement with Origin and maintain payments no further credit activity would occur on your account.

Due to the response received below, Origin has arranged for a hold to be placed on your account until 11 April 2014. This will allow you sufficient time to contact Origin on 13 24 61 at your convenience if you wish to enter into an official payment arrangement. Alternatively if you do wish to enter into a payment arrangement before this date you are more than welcome to response to this email with a commencement date and amount you wish to pay. Origin will then establish the payment arrangement for you.

Origin now considers this enquiry closed

Ombudsman Team Leader

Customer Relations Team
Origin


An "Official Payment Arrangement?"  Ooooooooooo really? Aren't I fucking lucky?

The reply:

"I am paying $100 + a fortnight... and these fuckwits come back at me with a payment plan of $76 per fortnight?

So why don't you fuck off as well - and quit wasting my time, by pedalling your version of their bullshit."

And "Origin considers this case closed" - got a name and phone number for that?

Idiot.


So working at an ombudsmans office is no particular importance either....

Not when your parroting the stupids script from the people in the power companies HQ.

I think I might just ramp up the payments and close their accounts on them within a month.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

My tolerance for stupid people pedalling stupid bullshit has run out.

Anything to do with the people in Origin Energy just costs me extraordinary amounts of time.

Better get the panels up pronto - before they disconnect me for the 10th time this year, or try too.

Fucking idiots.

They must have sent me like something like 300 or more letters threatening disconnection, debt collection, bills, and bills in red...  bills demanding immediate payment.... Bills demanding payment within 14 days.... Registered mail etc., etc.,

They go right out of their way to bullshit, lie and rip off the customers and wonder why their further "unwelcome advances" are ungratefully received.

They are like the idiot that punches their blind date in the face and then asks, "What time shall we have dinner next week at the most expensive resturaunt in the area, your shout of course?"

LOL

Pay them off, fuck them off and go with the renewable only power companies.

If the company owns wind turbines and solar plants, is Australian owned, buy all your power off them.....

Don't pay the corporate crooks who are ripping you off - and Origin Energy are a pack of thieves and liars to do business with.

They basically give nothing but shit service and give people the old corporate bullshit trip of, "Have you got any money - you must pay your bill now, you know". Do you have any grand parents you can sell for scientific experiments? How many litres of blood do you have to spare? Children? Internal organs? Do you have a credit card? How many of them do you have, what is your credit limit, blah blah blah blah......"

Demands, and more demands and even more demands for money....

And they are well endowed with "Creative Stupidity" - where not only are they stupid cunts to do business with, they go out of their way to fuck their customers up...

No wonder people hate them.

So totally true.

In the Product Review Website...

There is no point in switching to the NEGATIVE or ONE STAR reviews because as far as Origin Energy goes, and their fucking bullshit administration and sleazy management, the reviews are all, almost universally, TERRIBLE.....

In fact as far as I can tell, it's got the worst reputation of any company I have ever seen on that site.

One star reviews = Epic Failures in Customer Service.

Click the link, have a squiz and add yours "product review" while your at it.

http://www.productreview.com.au/p/origin-energy/2.html

Fucking abysmal service.



These following articles are all worth reading in full....



Origin Energy has worked to undermine renewable energy - a lovely little study by Green Peace, with a lot of nasty facts about the sleazy managers of Origin Energy.

http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/Global/australia/images/2013/Strangling%20Renewables.pdf

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

But, in recent years, Origin Energy has been using

its market power for more harm than good. Once

a great supporter of the transition to a renewable

energy powered future, Origin has changed its tune

and has been one of the companies doing the most to

undermine renewable energy investment in Australia



http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-farmer-who-exposed-power-game-20121021-27zl1.html

The farmer who exposed power game

The emperor has no clothes. In fact, the emperor is butt-naked, disrobed by a cattle farmer from Burrell Creek - a place so small, its distinguishing features include a house, a community hall and a phone box … population not stipulated.
Four months ago - on hearing of a proposal to run giant transmission lines through his property - a farmer from the NSW north coast, Bruce Robertson, delved into the claims the power companies had been making about electricity prices. He found they were untrue.
Four days ago, the Productivity Commission corroborated what Robertson had been saying all along. That is, escalating power bills were principally the upshot of over-investment in electricity networks; not the carbon tax, not rising consumption.
Now Robertson says the power lobby has even misled the Senate, by insisting the price rises are the fault of ''peak demand'' and rising consumption. As he says in his submission to the Senate inquiry on electricity prices, demand has collapsed. Even so, Grid Australia, the peak body for the $10 billion transmission and distribution sector, has told the Senate that demand is rising.
''Demand is falling, not rising,'' Robertson says. ''This basic premise is factually incorrect.''
Page four of the Grid Australia submission to the Senate cites ''key causes of electricity price increases over recent
years'' as ''ageing infrastructure'' and ''increase in demand''.
These are the ''recognised, industry-wide reasons that contribute to rises in electricity costs'', according to Grid Australia.
''It is often said that if you lie long enough and loud enough, then the lies become the accepted truth,'' Robertson says. ''And so it is with Grid Australia, in their submission to the Senate inquiry into electricity prices. Many of the statements made to the Senate inquiry are purely and simply fabrications.''
These are pretty rugged claims; for a farmer from Burrell Creek to accuse the power industry of misleading the government. And if he had bobbed out of the blue with such a bold claim, it could plausibly be discarded as conspiracy. But Robertson has a track record.
Back in May, he first said in these pages that the power companies had been ''gold-plating'' their networks. That is, they were deliberately over-spending because they earned a regulated return on the size of their assets. The more they spent, the more they made.
Then in June, he outlined how billions of dollars had been earmarked to upgrade the National Electricity Market based on faulty assumptions of demand.
Demand for electricity had been falling since 2008 in Victoria, NSW and Queensland at roughly 1 per cent a year, despite forecast rises of 2.2 per cent a year.
Demand is now 10 per cent below where the industry forecast it would be four years ago. Mild weather, changing consumer behaviour and rising costs have all been factors in this, Robertson says.
In July, as ''gold-plating'' started to become a buzzword in Canberra, Robertson launched into numerical detail of how the industry figures had been inflated and distorted.
Yet there was no cogent or credible response from either the lobby groups or the power companies.
Their defence consisted mostly of ad hominem attacks on Robertson and his local action group, the Manning Alliance.
In early September, the farmer took to demolishing the myth of ''peak demand''. Even as people were cottoning onto the bland and incontrovertible fact that demand for electricity was actually falling, not rising, the power lobby was clinging to the notion that ''peak demand'' still justified their surfeit of spending on networks.
It didn't. Peak demand was falling. Recent figures from the Australian Energy Regulator show the clear change in trend since 2008-09. Peak demand for both summer and winter demands in the national electricity market are on the wane.
In NSW, the largest market in the NEM, peak demand has veritably collapsed. ''The fall in peak in winter since 2008 has been 15 per cent and the fall in the summer peak since 2010-11 has been 18 per cent. This collapse has seen peak demands fall to levels not seen for a decade,'' Robertson says.
Despite the hard numbers, we still have a ''he said, she said'' debate. ''The only place that peak demand is rising is in the minds of electricity industry executives,'' Robertson says.
A spokesperson for the peak body said yesterday: ''Grid Australia agrees with Mr Robertson's own comment that his review isn't comprehensive. 'Beyond that, Grid Australia totally rejects Mr Robertson's assertions, which are wrong and misleading.''
In this reporter's books, it is hard to take Grid Australia seriously.
Its submission says: ''The impact of peak period demand growth is putting even greater pressure on the need for greater infrastructure investment.'' Note the word ''growth''. As Robertson says, peak demand is falling, not growing.
But don't take our word for it. Go online today and see Grid Australia's response to Robertson, and Robertson's response to Grid Australia.
Also, there will be state-by-state breakdowns on the actual falls in peak winter and summer demands.
The essence of the problem of rising power prices is the structure of the industry and its regulation.
Robertson travels to Canberra at the end of this month with Rob Oakeshott, who is putting a reform bill before Parliament. The guts of the bill is to turn the hodge-podge of state regimes into one federal law and to overhaul the perverse structure of the regulatory environment which acts as a fillip to gold-plating.
Among other mooted solutions to the crisis in energy bills, Robertson sees smart meters as potentially transferring business risk onto the consumer. They are also expensive to install.
A simpler system would be to change the regulations that would allow one access fee and three simple time-of-day tariffs - high, medium and low, he says.
''At the moment, if you want access to off-peak you have to pay. This is 'dumb-metering', as it does not encourage people to use electricity when it should be encouraged to be used.
''I can't work out why the largest possible cost saving as identified by Deloitte [commissioned to report on solutions] that is, peak demand management on pool pumps and airconditioners, is not implemented first.''


http://www.theage.com.au/nsw/electricity-industry-threatens-farmer-who-dared-to-fight-20121109-293wf.html

Electricity industry threatens farmer who dared to fight

Fighters ... Bruce and Belinda Robertson with their family. Photo: Supplied

A NSW farmer has been threatened with legal action by the $10 billion electricity sector for questioning the over-investment in assets that has driven up power prices and rewarded power company owners, including the NSW government, with generous dividends.

Bruce Robertson, a former stockmarket analyst who took up cattle farming 10 years ago, has received a letter from lawyers for Grid Australia, the industry body that represents the nation's transmission companies, including the NSW government-owned TransGrid.

Mr Robertson, who runs a farm at Burrell Creek, west of Taree, has been accused of defaming and causing "significant hurt and damage" to the transmission companies and told to issue an apology and pay their legal costs.

His MP, the independent Rob Oakeshott, said Mr Robertson was paying the price for speaking up on behalf of his community against Transgrid's power line expansion plans.

"People want to know what is going on, and people such as Bruce Robertson and others, myself included, won't accept legal threats as a reason to stop applying pressure for reform," Mr Oakeshott said. "My message to the NSW government is 'call off the dogs' on this farmer, and start explaining an electricity reform agenda."

Mr Robertson became active after Transgrid considered building power lines through the Manning Valley, where his property is situated.

His investigations led to the exposure in the Herald of the links between inflated industry forecasts of electricity demand and soaring power bills.

He exposed the practice of "gold-plating" earlier this year after investigating the structure of the electricity industry and its regulated returns, identifying the fatal flaw that the more money the industry spent on infrastructure, the higher were its financial returns.

This gold-plating has been the principal driver of power prices, which in NSW have risen by 80 per cent over the past five years.

Next month the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, will seek agreement from the states to a series of reforms designed to take pressure off power prices.

Mr Robertson has been a thorn in the side of the power companies, making his claims through an organisation he established, called the Manning Alliance. He has long argued that increasing power bills were caused mostly by over-investment rather than the carbon tax or rising electricity consumption.

Grid Australia has threatened legal action over statements that Mr Robertson made in the Herald and to ABC radio on October 22. He challenged claims that Grid Australia made to a Senate inquiry into power prices that rising peak demand was a principal reason for increased spending.

In the letter sent to Mr Robertson, Grid Australia contends that it did not mislead the Senate inquiry in its submission, which listed the reasons it believes were behind rising prices.

These included "rising peak demand" as well as "more rigorous reliability settings and other obligations for network security".

Grid Australia accuses Mr Robertson of "wilfully or at best ignoring the facts presented to you so as to sustain your contentions to promote the campaign being run by you through the organisation known as the Manning Alliance".

"Our clients do not object to having matters of public interest discussed or debated, however they will not tolerate a wilful disregard for the facts as a basis of denigrating them."

In NSW companies with more than 10 employees cannot sue for defamation.

This gold-plating has been the principal driver of power prices, which in NSW have risen by 80 per cent over the past five years.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/powerless-legal-heavyweights-used-to-silence-farmer-20121114-29bnl.html

Powerless: legal heavyweights used to silence farmer

 

Bruce and Belinda Robertson with their family in the middle of Stroud to Lansdowne Photo: Supplied

The thing that really irks Bruce Robertson is not just that the giant power companies are threatening to sue him but that their lawyers are demanding he pay for their costs.
“It was a service I never requested," quips Robertson, who has had to resort to black humour since the letter from Grid Australia arrived out of the blue last week.
In the quintessential act of corporate bullying, the nation's electricity transmission giants are threatening to sue the corporate-analyst-turned-cattle-farmer from the mid-north coast of NSW.
Robertson has been a constant thorn in their side this year, revealing how the industry's 'gold-plating', dodgy forecasts and misleading rhetoric have been the main factors behind the nose-bleed rise in power bills.

• The farmer who exposed the power game

And so Grid Australia, the peak body for the transmission giants, is trying to muzzle him with legal threats.

• Electricity industry threatens famer who dared to fight

This story is not just about power companies gagging an outspoken critic. It is about governments too. Grid Australia's members are mostly state-owned power companies. They speak for $10 billion in network assets and they don't like Robertson accusing them of gold-plating one little bit.
Here's the catch. Governments are not allowed to sue their citizens (this is a good thing).
Nor are the other two members of Grid: Victoria's SP-Ausnet, which is controlled by a Singaporean multinational, or South Australia's transmission provider, ElectraNet, which is a consortium of powerful financiers. Both are too big to sue.
Under reforms to the defamation laws seven years ago, big companies are no longer permitted to sue (Section 9 Defamation Act, 2005). The intention of these reforms was precisely to stop this sort of intimidation by large vested interests.
They were designed to prevent large corporations from using the law for commercial purposes – to shut down bad press, among other things.
Justifying the threats
So how can Grid Australia get away with its threats to sue Bruce Robertson?
For the past week, BusinessDay has made repeated requests of Grid Australia's law firm Ashurst to justify its action on legal and ethical grounds. Repeated requests for an explanation have been ignored. Not even a 'no comment' has been forthcoming.
Was Ashurst, one of Australia's 'big six' legal firms, happy for Robertson and his family to lose their farm for the sake of making a fee? No answer.
As governments can't sue for defamation, and big companies can't sue either, we can only assume that Ashurst has deemed Grid Australia to be a small 'not-for-profit' entity with less than ten employees.
This highly contestable and technical conclusion might allow them to skirt around the law – the letter of the law that is. Clearly as a front for the power companies, the action shatters the spirit of the law. But Grid Australia's action rests on shakier ground than black letter law.
It doesn't even appear to be a legal entity for a start. And it has to be a legal entity to sue.
According to ASIC searches, Grid Australia is not an incorporated body. Nor does it have a business name. Nor does it seem to be an incorporated association under the Associations Incorporation Act.
The website does not list a board. The contacts for Grid Australia all appear to be Transgrid employees. And the website was registered by a Queensland Electricity Transmission Corporation, not Grid Australia.
'Secret society'
Departing from the legal aspects for a moment to deliver a layman's observation: Grid Australia is as much of a secret society, controlled by state government agencies, as it is a proper legal entity with a right to sue people for exercising their rights to free speech.
And so we have a front for Transgrid, spending a bundle of taxpayer dollars with a big-city law firm, in an effort to stop a farmer from having his say. And the taxpayers of Victoria and other states are also subsidising this ethically dubious exercise.
Already, Transgrid has spent taxpayer money securing the services of Sue Cato, often regarded as the most expensive crisis management consultant in the market, to assist with its reputational issues. Now it has resorted to lawyers.
BusinessDay has endeavoured for more than a week to contact the Ashurst staff involved in the action. We have also tried the PR department. Despite repeated requests for a response there was none forthcoming.

• On what legal grounds is Ashurst basing its threats? No answer.
• On what ethical grounds is Ashurst basing its threats? No answer.
• Was Ashurst happy for Robertson – a man of integrity and honesty – to lose his farm and his livelihood in the process of Ashurst making a fee? No answer.

The firm's mission statement on Corporate Social Responsibility says:

Ashurst's commitment to corporate social responsibility is core to all aspects of our global operations. This commitment means an approach to legal practice consistent with the highest professional and ethical standards; and it's reflected in our dealings with our clients, our staff and the wider community. This commitment makes us a better law firm, a better employer and a better corporate citizen.
So with that in mind:

• Did this action on behalf of Grid Australia correspond with "the highest professional and ethical standards"? No answer.
• Did the failure of the firm to respond to questions indicate that the partners of Ashurst considered themselves above public scrutiny? No answer.

It would be interesting to know what the firm's partners and 800 lawyers thought about this.
Legal responsibility
Lawyers enjoy a cherished place in society. The courts, where they ply their trade, are bankrolled by taxpayers to the tune of billions every year. Yet there is little effective regulation and oversight of the profession, let alone public scrutiny of this sort of intimidation.
If Ashurst reasonably knew the matters set out in its letter to Bruce Robertson were wrong and the threat of litigation was baseless (and we are not saying they did) then there may be an issue with rule 34.1 or 34.2 of the Revised Professional Conduct and Practice Rules 1995 (NSW).
A practitioner must not, in any communication with another person on behalf of a client:
34.1 represent to that person that anything is true which the practitioner knows, or reasonably believes, is untrue; or
34.2 make any statement that is calculated to mislead or intimidate the other person, and which grossly exceeds the legitimate assertion of the rights or entitlement of the practitioner's client; or
34.3 threaten the institution of criminal proceedings against the other person in default of the person's satisfying a concurrent civil liability to the practitioner's client; or
34.4 demand the payment of any costs to the practitioner in the absence of any existing liability therefore owed by the person to the practitioner's client.
Further, in order to commence proceedings in NSW, Ashurst would need to certify that there were reasonable prospects of success (pursuant to section 347 of the Legal Profession Act). If proceedings were commenced without reasonable prospects and were ultimately unsuccessful, the court could make an order for costs against the law firm itself.
It is the humble submission of this layman that Bruce Robertson ought to take the matter to the Legal Services Commissioner – even if the prospects of success are inevitably slim.
NOTE: As readers have pointed out there is a Grid Australia on the ASIC database. This entity is registered to an individual with an office in Elsternwick, Victoria. BusinessDay does not believe that this is the same entity working on behalf of the power companies. Efforts are being made to contact the individual.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I might also note - that when I asked the ombudsman to tell me how much they have ripped me off with their gold plated electrics and scam pricing in Victoria, the people in the ombudsmans office have gone very, very quiet. 

So why is that? - why have the Ombudsman's office refused to supply that information?"


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http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/wind-energy-may-cut-electricity-prices-40-heatwaves-29622

As PowerShop explained in its blog:

“Wholesale electricity prices are set every 30 mins by finding the plant to supply the last bit of demand at the lowest price (at which price that plant will run).  Once built, wind farms will run at a price of ZERO … so they never make the wholesale price more expensive and they reduce wholesale prices significantly when they run.  So LRET uses small volumes of wind reduce spot prices for the whole market, meaning that savings for customers far outweighs the cost of LGCs.

“Yet the “big three” power companies – Origin, AGL and Energy Australia – continue to lobby for a reduced LRET target, arguing that there may be an “oversupply” of electricity.  By “oversupply” they presumably mean that prices may come down, competition would increase and consumers would pay less.”

And this is why people are dropping dead in heat waves - due to black outs....

Many of your power companies are run by arseholes, they are NOT your friend, and you are are considered expendible - only they just don't tell you that.

Profit, Greed and Stupidity - before principles.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/southern-crossroads/2014/jan/17/heat-wave-australia-record-breaking-climate-change-bushfires-melbourne

The blackouts during Australia's heatwave didn't happen by accident

Australia broke yet another heatwave record this week while thousands of people suffered from electricity blackouts.

Australia is experiencing the most extreme heatwave since, well, the last one in 2013 and 2009.

Earth wind map shows Australia as hottest place on planet #climate #heatwave #connectthedots pic.twitter.com/AJGCoitnVc
— Alexander White (@alexanderwhite) January 17, 2014

While the sunburned country is used to hot weather, our infrastructure was not built to cope with several days of above 40°C temperatures. Now Victoria has now seen 4 consecutive days above 41°C, breaking records that have existed since 1855.

In 2009, the heatwave preceded Black Saturday, one of the most devastating bush fires in recent times. The human cost of the 2009 heatwave was more than 374 deaths, in addition to the 173 people who died in the fires.

While there were heatwaves across most of Australia for the past fortnight, the heatwave this week finally hit the south-eastern seaboard, and Melbourne where I live.

In nearby South Australia, the state capital Adelaide became the hottest city on earth, with temperatures in Roseworthy exceeding 46°C. (That's over 114.8°F if you don't follow Celsius.)

Bushfires are raging across south-east Australia, with over 100 blazes burning in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. There are more than 60 burning in Victoria.

Under these conditions, we saw train and tram tracks buckle. Melbourne ground to a halt, when the public transport providers, Metro and Yarra Trams advised commuters to leave work early to avoid massive delays and service cancellations.

It became so hot that the Australian Open tennis competition had play stopped after players collapsed and hallucinated cartoon characters.

Climate change is causing heatwaves in Australia to become more frequent, last longer and to be hotter, according to a Climate Council report:

"As greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, more heat is trapped in the lower atmosphere," the report states. "This increases the likelihood that hot weather will occur and that heatwaves will become longer and more intense.

Here was Australia's temperature on Friday 17 January. #heatwave #climate #bom pic.twitter.com/K3XFOFyQJ7
— Alexander White (@alexanderwhite) January 17, 2014

These heatwaves aren't just inconvenient for tennis fans or commuters. They're deadly.

Emergency services, including paramedics and firefighters have been mobilised in large numbers to respond to the increase in heat-related injuries. Heart attacks surged 300% during the heatwave and authorities expect an increase of 50% in mortalities caused by the extreme heat, mainly the elderly, infirm and children.
Also widely reported in Melbourne are localised, staged blackouts.

On Wednesday, the Victorian premier Denis Napthine, who has introduced an effective ban on the construction of wind turbines, talked about the need to "reduce the supply to some households".

He's talking about cutting the electricity to homes, during the hottest part of the day.
"The Government is insisting that priority is given to electricity supplies for hospitals, nursing homes emergency services, public transport and major infrastructure," he said in a radio interview, and he also noted that essential services "will be exempt" from power cuts.

The black outs were exacerbated by repair delays at one of Victoria's major power stations and problems with the Basslink power cable from Tasmania.
It is important for people to understand several important facts.

Firstly, peak demand in 2014 was less than during the 2009 record heat wave. According to Roger Dargavel, senior energy analyst from Melbourne University's energy institute:

peak demand on Tuesday (with a maximum temperature in Melbourne of 42.8 degrees) and Wednesday (41.7 degrees) was only a touch over 10 GW, well under the 2009 record.

Energy demand in Victoria has declined over the past five years by around 3% per year, despite quickly growing population. This is largely due to increases in energy efficiency, decline in energy intensive manufacturing and the massive uptake of household photovoltaic solar systems (around 3 GW nationally is installed).

In fact, according to the Clean Energy Council, without rooftop solar "acting to reduce the demand from large-scale power stations, it is very likely that Victoria would have set a new record for power use". So we can thank renewables that there weren't blackouts due to lack of supply. (Despite this, Tony Abbott has cut funding for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and premier Napthine has halted wind turbine approvals.)

Secondly, energy supply is not a natural phenomenon. It is not like water that flows downhill. The electricity supply is something that is determined by people. At some point, a person decides to turn off the electricity for a certain area. (This obviously excepts blackouts due to disasters.)

In the case of the blackouts being referred to by premier Napthine, the decision makers are the energy distribution companies.

Thirdly, the energy market in Australia and Victoria is national, and largely privatised. In Victoria, the energy assets were sold off in the 1990s (along with a host of other essential services) by the conservative premier Jeff Kennett. The argument used to justify the privatisation was that it would result in lower prices.

Energy prices, as well as supply, are determined by "market forces". That is, the privately owned power companies sell electricity to the highest bidder. What's more, privatisation introduced the profit-motive, so that electricity companies have an incentive to increase their prices.

In the three years before 2013, electricity prices rose by 66% or $680 per year, only around $54 of which can be attributed to the carbon price during 2013 (the first full year of its operation).

Additionally, Australia has a national energy market. This means that the grid connects between states, so when there is an excess of supply in one state, it can be sent to another state; and when there is an increase in demand in a state, supply can be sent from a neighbouring state.

Today, Fairfax reported that several large commercial users of electricity voluntarily reduced their energy consumption. This was due to price surges on the wholesale market.

The wholesale market is regulated by the Australian Energy Market Operator, which operates the national electricity trading market. It is a corporation jointly owned by Australians state and federal governments, and industry.

The blackout during the heatwave in Melbourne was caused because someone in a private company decided to cut the power to everyday peoples' homes.

The decision-makers in these companies are profit driven. They are selling energy in a market. And these companies sell to the highest bidders. The fact that several bulk buyers reduced their energy consumption demonstrates this.

According to the ABC, prices increased in Victoria energy retailers are paying around $750 per megawatt hour and as high as $1800/MWh, up from $48 on Monday and an average of around $60. Prices once reached $12,900/MWh, so, as Roger Dargaville noted "the system is under stress but a long way from cracking".

The State Government can effectively exempt essential services like the water pumps, hospitals, and public transport by guaranteeing that they will pay the price, however high.

Householders however, cannot. So power companies prioritise industrial energy users over people. This means cutting power to homes and sending it to industry.

The point of this post is blog that while the extremes of heat that we are experiencing may be a natural phenomenon, the consequences are caused by humans.

When people have their power supplies cut and their health is impacted, when infrastructure cannot cope and people are left stranded, and when companies and governments continue to pump billions of tonnes of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, it is because of someone's decision.

And if you don't care about the people, at least think of the cute koalas.

Adorable and sad at the same time. Poor koala. #heatwave pic.twitter.com/JuilVceBGC
— Alexander White (@alexanderwhite) January 17, 2014

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Tomorrow, I am switching to a renewable power supplier - until my own panels come online.


Meanwhile if you want to check your actual "smart metering" - do this every 30 or 60 days - or from one billing period to the next:

This is the fun thing about smart meters....

"Ask your shitty power company to send you a copy of the raw meter data from the meter data provider. 

Specifically the half hourly splits, daily total consumption, meter readings & confirmation this is actual data  and not estimated, and to be printed on paper and to posted to me. Covering the period, from the last request, to the current date. 

Ask for it to be printed out on paper and have it posted to you. 

They are legally obligated to do it.

And if they refuse, complain to the ombudsman."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another little story along the grape vine....

A certain person I heard of, decided to play out an intelligence test on the Origin Energy staff at the HQ.

You need a basic understanding of Electricity Supply for this.

Direct current - flows from NEGATIVE to POSITIVE (surplus of electrons to deficiency of electrons)  - it goes only in one direction. So there are two wires, Negative (black) and Positive (red).....

So if you connect up say a DC motor, one way, it will spin clock wise and if you connect it up the other way, it will run counter-clockwise.

AC or Alternating Current - is electricity that changes direction 50 times a second - it flows in one direction, stops, flows back the other way, stops and so on and so forth - so it does not make any difference which way it is connected, it's the same alternating current. It two has two wires - Active (black I recall) and Neutral (red?).

The motor that is designed to run on the AC, will run in the same direction, no matter which way it it connected to the power.  The same thing goes for all equipment designed to run on AC..... No matter which way the wires are hooked up, it will just run.... motors, sound systems, lights... they run.

The "mains power" is all AC.

After a recent local electrification works, a clever chap decided to call the power company and tell them that the power guys had connected the power lines up the wrong way - and the power was coming into his property in reverse.

His fridge was now hot on the inside and cold on the outisde. (They didn't give a shit)

His TV was now showing the backs of their heads, instead of their faces. (They didn't give a shit)

When he turned the lights on, the room went dark, and when he turned them off, they lights lit up. (They didn't give a shit)

And the SMART METER was now running backwards....

Apparently the after hours service people with a degree of technical profiency did not believe a word of it, but the day shift administrative staff did - "Oooooo panic - they wired the street up the wrong way and the smart meter is running backwards - Ooooo Panic, Panic - we can't have that."

And they sent out a couple of guys to inspect the "Smart Meter" that was running backwards.


Yeah - they are that fucking stupid...... Couldn't put batteries in a dildo.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there is my tale of fun and adventure with Origin Energy........

They give people all the reasons they need not to use them and I guess that I too have had my fill of their bullshit....

Changed providers and gave them the arse....

And Oh yeah... I have put Origin Energy on an "Official Payment Plan...."

$10 per fortnight with printed receipt to be posted out to me - each time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a few copy paste extracts from some of the more recent big fires, that the shitty maintenance and incompetence creates.

Based upon my own experiences, it just makes me wonder how much dodgy equipment is in service and how many dodgy practices have been made, that leave ticking time bombs - ready to set fire and burn down more things.....



http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/negligence-sparked-fatal-powerline-fire-court-told-20130304-2fgya.html

Negligence sparked fatal power-line fire, court told

Electricity distributor SP Ausnet's failure to prevent a damaged power line from collapsing negligently caused Black Saturday's deadliest blaze, a court has heard.
The first day of Victoria's largest civil class action began in the Supreme Court on Monday with an opening address from Robert Richter, QC, on behalf of 10,500 people affected by the Kilmore East fire on February 7, 2009.
Mr Richter said that the fire's cause - a failed power line - was not disputed, but it could have been prevented if SP Ausnet (SPI) had performed simple safety inspections and serviced the 43-year-old power line years before 2009.
The fire began after a live line hit a power pole cable stay, igniting vegetation. A lightning strike had initiated cracks that made the line susceptible to wind stress, causing its failure.
It claimed 119 lives and destroyed the communities of Kinglake, Steels Creek, Chum Creek, Strathewen and Flowerdale.
SPI knew that the line that sparked the fire had failed previously, was rusting and had been struck by lightning at least twice before, Mr Richter said. It also knew that this would have produced cracks in the line over a number of years in a CFA-designated high-risk bushfire area.
''SPI might be right to say they did nothing to cause it … but they did none of the things they should have done to prevent this damaged line from collapsing and because they did nothing, they are liable for what they could have done before Black Saturday,'' he said.
While SPI's policy was to fit dampers to power lines longer than 300 metres to reduce the risk of damage to lines from vibrations, the company did not apply this to the power line in question, which had increased the risk of fatigue failure, he said.
Mr Richter said this was ''unjustifiable and inexplicable. It was unforgivable, in fact.''
In its opening address on Tuesday, SPI is expected to plead that it could not have known about the lightning strike, which Mr Richter called ''laughable. They knew what damage it could cause … unless (the line was) replaced or mitigated. They knew because electricity is their business,'' he said.
Fairfax Media reported on Monday that an expert, who told the Bushfires Royal Commission a jammed end connection had undermined the line was ''quite significant'' in causing line fatigue, had revised his opinion.
Justice Jack Forrest said he would not read evidence from the commission unless it was presented as new evidence: ''This starts on a blank canvass and will be adduced on evidence in this case.''


 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/23/2551251.htm?site=victoria

Power company faces class action over Black Saturday

A faulty powerline that is believed to have sparked the fatal Kinglake bushfire is the subject of a class action against power company SP AusNet.

A prominent SC says if the power distributor is responsible, it could be up for $800 million in damages.
The Black Saturday blaze that ravaged Kinglake and surrounding areas killed more than 100 people and left more than 1,000 homeless.
It is alleged the deadly fire was sparked by a powerline that snapped in record heat and strong winds at Kilmore East.
Tim Tobin SC is leading a class action against Singapore-owned electricity company, SP AusNet.
They are responsible for maintaining many of Victoria's power lines.
Mr Tobin SC says it is believed six of the Black Saturday fires were started by power asset failures, and he says it could easily happen again.
"There has been a recognition of a deterioration in the power transmission assets over the last few years," he said.
"There have been people who have been affected by falling conductors.
"The concern of the people of the country is not only what happened last February but it will continue to happen until there is an increased vigilance in the maintenance of power assets."
SP AusNet has declined to comment.

Monitoring powerlines

It has been revealed that six months before the fires, Victoria's Emergency Services Commissioner called for a better system to monitor fallen powerlines.
However both the State Government and the distributor have been unable to tell the ABC whether this has been implemented, and whether it would have reduced the death toll.
The issue of powerlines in extreme weather events was raised in the Emergency Services Commissioner's report into the April 2008 windstorm.
While most media attention was focused on Commissioner Bruce Esplin's warning that the state's 000 phone service could collapse in extreme events, recommendation four was also foreboding:
"Electricity distribution businesses develop and implement alternative arrangements for monitoring fallen powerlines," it read.
Six months on, the Government is still considering the report.
It says the recommendation is being implemented, but will not say how, or what discussions it has had with distributors.
It says all these matters will be considered by the Royal Commission.
SP AusNet would not be interviewed, but told ABC Radio's PM program: "SP AusNet has been proactive in implementing measures since the April windstorms to improve our response to extreme weather events."
"This includes the use of trained 'scouts' to patrol powerlines during storm events, and continual investment in protection equipment."

Ageing infrastructure

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) is worried about ageing infrastructure.
In its submission to pricing inquiries since the industry's privatisation in 1994, the ETU speaks of "dangerously inadequate aging infrastructure", of the "maintenance unaccountability of distribution companies" and of a "drastically reduced workforce to work on live lines".
The union's state executive member Graeme Watson says infrastructure is in a "dire situation".
"I think the frailty of the system is highlighted by the 2007 windstorm, and other events that have occurred over the last few years," he said.
"[It's changed from] a system that was maintained by the State Electricity Commission prior to privatisation, to an industry that's been dissected and privatised with no dedicated form of maintenance.
"We've now got a terminology used across industries, particularly in the Victorian power industry of reactive maintenance.
"So you fix the equipment or system when it fails. Now unfortunately, in electricity when it fails, it generally fails catastrophically."