MsPATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (12:00:11) — My question is for the Minister for Health, represented in this house by the Minister for Families and Children. In the heatwave of 2009, 361 mainly elderly residents died of heat stress during blackouts and brownouts. Fortunately since then we have had fewer hot spells and good electricity supply, but as we know, this may change this summer.
One benefit of our electricity smart meters is that they can isolate homes from blackouts and brownouts, and a ‘do not disconnect’ register currently exists for this purpose and is principally used for people on dialysis. So my question is: will the minister extend the reach of the ‘do not disconnect’ register to the elderly who are registered for home care? This would prevent the devastating consequences of 2009.
Response from Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change:
The State Emergency Response Plan Extreme Heat Sub-Plan (the Plan) sets out the Victorian arrangements for the coordinated response to the impacts and consequences of extreme heat events on the community, infrastructure, and services. It is available on the website of Emergency Management Victoria at https://www.emv.vic.gov.au/responsibilities/state-emergency-plans/state-extreme-heat-sub-plan.
As you have noted, Clause 5.6 of the Electricity Distribution Code (the Code) outlines the specific requirements placed on electricity distribution companies when dealing with power dependent (i.e. life support) customers.
Electricity distribution businesses are required to provide all customers with four business days’ written notification of any planned interruption to supply. This written notice must include the expected date, time and duration of the planned interruption and include a 24 hours telephone number for inquiries. Advance notification allows customers to plan for the interruption and/or to put alternative arrangements in place for the period that power supply is unavailable. On days of extreme heat, electricity distribution businesses will either seek to defer their planned works or, if the works must proceed due to safety and security concerns, will seek to commence works as early as possible in the day to avoid the hottest part of the day.
You have also noted the additional functionality provided by smart meters. Some electricity distribution businesses are indeed already using smart meters to provide greater selectivity in which customers can be kept on supply and thereby minimise impacts on the community. This functionality can only be used under certain scenarios however, and is not an option for all types of power outage. This functionality can be used for example to address supply demand imbalances but not where there has been a technical failure of local infrastructure.
While electricity distribution businesses will register power dependent customers in their individual systems, there is no single ‘Do not disconnect register’ in existence, nor, as noted above, is it possible to prevent all planned maintenance works and unplanned outages. There is, however, a Vulnerable People Register (VPR) which was developed as part of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS’s) Vulnerable people in emergencies (VPE) policy in response to Recommendation 3 of the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission’s final report. The purpose of the VPE policy is to improve the safety of vulnerable people in emergencies through supporting emergency planning, developing local lists of facilities where vulnerable people may be located and developing local lists of vulnerable people through the VPR.
I thank you again for having raised this important matter and hope that the information provided is of assistance.
