Ingham Substation Update

The flooding in the Hinchinbrook Shire has left thousands of homes and people without power, as Ergon Energy made the decision to turn off power on Sunday 2nd February.

At Ingham Substation on Thursday water had receding and Ergon energy were completing tasks, to gain an understanding for when power is likely to be turned back on.

Area Manager Herbert for Ergon Energy Katrina Lennon announced that they will turn it on as soon as possible.

“We are getting it on as soon as possible. It will be a staggered approach, because they're all set off different feeders, so not everyone's lights are all going to come on at once,” she said.

“We treat our most critical sites so we prioritize that to the critical infrastructure in town, so that we can get those main priorities re-energized sooner rather than later, so that will see a staggered approach happening as soon as this cell is working.”

Treasurer, Minister for Energy and Minister for Home Ownership David Janetzki MP understands what people in Ingham and surrounding areas are dealing with and mirrors Katrina Lennon’s expertise.

“We have over 100 Ergon staff around Ingham ready to help with any connection faults,” he said.

“This community has suffered so much over the last few days, and Ergon and the state government is throwing everything in support of them, while there may be a slim chance of re-energisation of the substation today, everything is being done and if it is re-energized, it will be one of the quickest ever to come back online.

“The people of Ingham have suffered, and the state government is throwing everything in support of it.

“Already, Ergon, this week, has put on reconnected 20,000 homes across North Queensland, and I pay tribute to their staff that are working around the clock to deliver for Queensland.”

Ingham Substation was re-energised on Thursday 6 February.

Minister for Communities, Amanda Camm MP was also present at the substation and said she is working hard to get power back to the community.

“My department is working very closely with Minister Leahy's department in the community recovery effort and while we are still in the midst of this disaster, everybody and all resources of the government are working very hard to reconnect power to this community,” Amanda Camm MP said.

Nick Dametto MP Member for Hinchinbrook said he thanks the Ergon Energy team and all their efforts to try and get the substation up and running as soon as possible.

“It's no secret, we've been going through hell right here for the last seven days,” he added.

“We're not out of it yet. There's a lot of work that needs to be done. Connecting supply chains is paramount right now, but also connecting your electrical network around the Hinchinbrook Shire so we can get power back into those homes, those businesses, so we can start to get on our feet, is our priority.”

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