Ovens Valley MP, Tim McCurdy has conducted his own investigations into the causes and concludes that a substation needs to be built in Yarrawonga.
On his Facebook page this week, Mr McCurdy said power to the Yarrawonga regions was via Cobram East substation.
“The amount of power coming across, heats the lines to excessive temperatures and can make the lines sag to such a degree that they may hit trees or other vegetation,” he said.
“There are times the power is isolated to prevent this from happening.”
He also clarified questions over temporary generators put in place explaining they were put there to support the current network in the event the power lines from Cobram were overwhelmed.
“However, in the event of the power network isolators being “tripped” and the power goes out, the generators are designed to shut down,” he said.
“This is so Powercor staff in the field, trying to fix the fault, don’t get electrocuted by a generator that is still producing power.
“The generators are to support the current power, not replace the network.
“And … we all know that every modern caravan has a flash air conditioner in them, which also requires excess power.
“It is fair to say that extra visitors to town put more pressure on the system, but I’m certainly not blaming our visitors for putting us in this predicament.”
Mr McCurdy believes the complete solution was a medium to long term one and said Powercor must put a substation in Yarrawonga.
He said a substation would solve 99 per cent of supply or demand problems.
“In the meantime, we keep the generators supporting what we have and we pray that we get through,” he said.
“Sam Birrell MP and I will work together to ensure Powercor solves this problem going forward, as it is unacceptable.”
