By Tyler Wright
A local advocate has welcomed AusNet’s decision to partner with global data, analytics and technology company DTN to help improve its response to emergency events.
The partnership is expected to utilise DTN’s Storm Impact Analytics, which is a state-of-the-art outage prediction tool which combines weather forecasts, regional and historical weather data, with AusNet operational data to support improved planning and decision-making during weather events.
AusNet Emergency Operations Specialist, Sally Jacobs, said the tools and analysis provides the company with information in advance of a weather event, enabling AusNet to prepare and respond to extreme weather events ahead of time.
“This information will help us determine when a response is needed and where to allocate staff so that they are positioned and equipped to deal with potential issues,” Ms Jacobs said.
The insights are set to inform both advanced warning and scenario modelling, helping AusNet’s outage response management.
As the climate changes, effective management of weather-related risks is becoming more complex, as illustrated by events in recent years.
In the June 2021 storm event that ravaged the Yarra Ranges, people were left without power; prompting calls for powerlines to be moved underground.
This is what Belinda Young, founder of Mums of the Hills, and advocate for stronger connectivity in the Dandenong Ranges, hopes will come of the partnership between the two companies within the next three decades.
“If they can actually use that data and project it forward at that scale and work out the costs, both in the cost of their staff and the repair of the infrastructure, but also the compensation that will be paid out to customers every time the power goes out, we’re thinking that this might actually become enough evidence to prove that it might be more cost effective to put the lines underground,” Ms Young said.
“Where we are right now, it is useful to help with planning, preparing, and also for repairing after those storms.
“We welcome anything that is going to help improve the services… not the infrastructure, but certainly the knowledge about the weather events that are happening in our area.”
Ms Jacobs said after the 2019/2020 bushfires and the June 2021 storms, AusNet knew it had to change how it responded to big emergency events.
“We needed reliable and actionable insights which looked at the potential impacts to our service areas, tailored to our industry,” she said.
“We can now more confidently anticipate and respond to weather impacts on our network.”
Ms Young said she hopes AusNet won’t use a blanket approach for every region.
“[Outages] depend on the wind direction and the length of time, and a lot of different factors,” she said.
AusNet owns and operates three regulated networks: electricity distribution, gas distribution and the state-wide electricity transmission network, as well as a significant portfolio of contracted energy infrastructure.
