Greens leader Richard Di Natale has claimed Aussies need to toughen up as Melbourne battles through a massive power outage on a scorching hot day.
While Victorians suffered through a massive heat wave on Friday with temperatures well above 40 degrees, the 48-year-old said there is no need to complain, for our ancestors faced far worse conditions.
Speaking to Sky News on Friday, the politician said Australians are being completely unreasonable and it’s not a massive deal having no access to appliances in the sweltering heat.
“We have to [phase out coal] and look we talk about not using a dishwasher for a couple of hours we’re facing an existential threat as a species,” he said.
“Can you imagine the sacrifices that people made during war time? [And then] being told, well, sorry, we’re not prepared to make a sacrifice that means for two hours during the day we can’t use a dishwasher?”
.@RichardDiNatale: We complain about not having a dishwasher turned on for a few hours but this is an existential threat we're facing as a species.
The government has no energy policy and no climate policy.
MORE: https://t.co/Mw87DYS9Hk #SkyLiveNow pic.twitter.com/Bq0xnDs50e
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) January 25, 2019
Although it may not seem like a crisis to the politician, over 60,000 Victorian customers have been forced to find other ways to cool down after their electricity was shut off in a planned power outage.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) was ordered to enforce a supply interruption to protect the power system in the state.
As a result of Victoria’s high temperatures, high demand and reduced generation availability, loss of electricity load to regions of the state has been required to ensure power system security. Please stay safe and we will provide a further update shortly. https://t.co/GRWFQRfyGR pic.twitter.com/U7oPwyK8Pz
— AEMO (@AEMO_Energy) January 25, 2019
“Coordinated supply interruptions are required to maintain electricity supply and protect the power system as Victoria deals with record breaking high temperatures, high demand and reduced generation availability,” the company wrote on its website. “AEMO has instructed load shedding of approximately 200 megawatts as a result, approximately 60,000 Victorian customer are expected to be affected by power outages as a result of electricity supply disruptions.”
However, despite Di Natale’s protestations, experts have warned that the extreme heat can be dangerous, especially for young children and the elderly, who are at greater risk of fainting and suffering heat stroke.
Thankfully after around two hours with no air conditioning or fans, power companies began to restore electricity to homes across the state.
“AEMO has directed us to restore power to customers,” company CitiPower announced on Twitter at around 2pm. “We will be progressively restoring supply as safely and quickly as possible. This event was as a result of a shortfall in power generation and was not network related. Thank you for your patience during this AEMO directed event.”
AEMO has directed us to restore power to customers. We will be progressively restoring supply as safely and quickly as possible. This event was as a result of a shortfall in power generation, & was not network related. Thank you for your patience during this AEMO-directed event.
— CitiPower (@CitiPower) January 25, 2019
To the relief of Melbourne residents the scorching temperatures also dropped significantly in the early afternoon, plummeting a massive 12 degrees in a matter of minutes. It took only seven minutes for the temperature to fall to a much more comfortable 29.7 degrees.
However, for those who are still waiting for the cool change or to have their power restored, Energy Safe Victoria gave some very helpful tips.
According to Victoria’s energy safety regulator households must not connect generators or perform other electrical work around home in these conditions as such practice is both illegal and dangerous.
Welcome #VicCoolChange has moved through the CBD #melbourneweather #melbweather #vicweather #melbourne's temperature fell 12°C in 7 min. Relief for northern &eastern parts of #Victoria tonight, but the far NE unfortunately will have to wait until Saturday. https://t.co/NzSOfF0Gvg pic.twitter.com/isSTLWdahm
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) January 25, 2019
Aussies must also ensure all heating and cooking appliances are turned off as there is a risk of fire if they come back on when no one is at the property.
While power is being restored as quickly as possible following the planned outage, those who still have no electricity once the rest of the area is restored, are urged to seek the help of their network provider, as there could be a fault in the supply line to the property.