Upper Lachlan Shire Council’s Facebook page is peppered with power outage notifications. This one followed a storm in December 2021. Image: Upper Lachlan Shire Council/Facebook.
The lights have been going out in Crookwell for years, but the blackout that finally tested the community’s patience came on 18 June.
On the night of State of Origin, as televisions across NSW lit up with rugby league’s biggest rivalry, screens in Crookwell went dark.
Homes and businesses – including pubs that had packed in crowds for the match – were left without power until about 1 am.
It was the latest in a string of outages that have plagued the small town at the heart of Upper Lachlan Shire.
Data from Essential Energy and the NSW Government shows repeated disruptions.
In December 2021, a storm caused the feeder line to trip, cutting supply for hours.
High winds in August 2022 triggered another fault that affected Crookwell and nearby villages. A lightning strike in May 2023 left more than 400 customers without power for up to four hours.
Then came the State of Origin blackout, the fourth major outage in as many years.
The failures all come back to a single point of weakness: Crookwell is fed by one 66-kilovolt line running more than 40 kilometres north from Goulburn.
When that line trips, there is no backup.
“There is currently no alternative route to redirect power if that line is damaged or needs maintenance,” Essential Energy said.
That leaves the town of 2700 people, and outlying district population of 3200, vulnerable to storms, bushfires, equipment faults or even vegetation encroaching on the network. Then there are the planned outages for maintenance or upgrades.
The risk is not new, but the 18 June blackout brought it into sharper focus; all the more stinging, because Crookwell is surrounded by wind farms.
About 50 turbines surround the town, including Australia’s first grid-connected wind facility, built in 1998. They generate renewable energy for the state, but cannot supply the local network during failures.
“The reliability issues in Crookwell are unrelated to the presence of wind generation in the region,” Essential Energy said.
The turbines feed into the 330 kV transmission system, not the local distribution grid.
To address the immediate problem, Essential Energy has flagged plans to install a containerised diesel generator in Crookwell. It would remain idle under normal circumstances, but kick in automatically during unplanned or planned outages.
“This generator would only be used in fault or emergency situations, with the district being supplied via the existing grid for the overwhelming majority of any given year,” the company said.
Commissioning is expected within 15 to 18 months.
Upper Lachlan Shire Mayor Paul Culhane said the community was ready for a fix, even if diesel was the short-term answer.
“People are happy that something’s finally being done,” he said.
Local MP Wendy Tuckerman weighed in on the issue last week following a meeting with Essential Energy. Photo: Wendy Tuckerman MP/Facebook.
Local MP Wendy Tuckerman also welcomed Essential Energy’s willingness to act after meeting with the company last week. But she said the broader issue remained unresolved.
“It is deeply ironic that the state’s renewable energy hub has been plagued by ongoing power failures, with the proposed fix being diesel generation,” she said.
“That irony highlights the lack of proper investment in energy infrastructure for the very communities carrying much of the state’s energy load.”
Longer-term solutions are still under discussion.
Essential Energy said it was exploring solar-battery hybrid microgrid technology, which is being trialled in other parts of the state.
Across regional Australia, stand-alone systems combining solar panels, batteries and small generators are also being deployed to maintain supply during extended outages.
For now, residents are being told to prepare.
Essential Energy’s outage portal lists planned works in advance, and the company recommends households keep torches and devices charged, install surge protection, and consider private backup systems if they rely on medical equipment or refrigeration.
The diesel generator, when it arrives, is designed as a temporary safety net.
Until a second feeder or a microgrid is built, Crookwell will continue to live with the reality of a fragile power supply.
