Minlaton community meeting: What we heard and what happens next
On Tuesday 17 February, more than 120 Yorke Peninsula community members joined us at the Minlaton Town Hall to talk openly about the ongoing outages caused by insulator pollution.
For many in the room, this issue has now affected two summer periods. The frustration, fatigue and concern shared were clear.
One thing was made evident: in regional communities, electricity is not a convenience. It underpins water supply, sanitation, communications, business viability and personal safety. When the power goes out, the impacts are immediate and often deeply disruptive.
Hearing those experiences directly from customers was powerful for our team, and reinforced why resolving this issue remains our highest organisational priority.
Acknowledging where we are
Our CEO, Andrew Bills, acknowledged that the level of reliability being experienced across parts of the Yorke Peninsula is not acceptable.
We understand that trust has been affected. We also understand that words alone will not rebuild it — only sustained action and visible improvement will.
Andrew also asked that our field crews continue to be treated with respect. Many of them live locally and are experiencing the same outages at home.
Chief Operating Officer Mark Vincent outlined the decline in reliability across the region in the recent period and walked through the operational response underway, including immediate mitigation measures and longer-term remediation planning.
What we heard from you
The majority of the session was devoted to questions, concerns and ideas from those in attendance.
Key themes included:
The real impact of outages
Customers shared stories of economic hardship, lost trade, inability to pump water or flush toilets, difficulty contacting vulnerable family members, and anxiety during high-risk weather conditions. These lived experiences reinforced the seriousness of the situation.
Compensation pathways
Many customers expressed frustration about the lack of a clear and accessible compensation pathway for outage-related losses. There is a Guaranteed Service Level (GSL) payment which will be automatically applied to customers who have experienced outages beyond a certain threshold. Further, we are currently engaging with the SA Government on the application of an existing, State regulated compensation scheme to insulator pollution related outage impacts, and hope to be able to provide an update on those discussions soon.
Fire risk and safety
There were strong concerns about flashovers and potential fire ignition. This risk is one of the key reasons we are taking a conservative approach to the application of Fire Danger Protection Settings, which significantly reduce the risk of fire starts from our assets, on higher fire danger days, while this issue persists.
Influence with the Regulator
Many expressed a strong desire to engage with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) on how we invest in the network, particularly to address reliability and fire-risk issues. We are committed to providing clearer information about the practical avenues available for customers to have their voices heard as we approach the next regulatory reset period.
Our response and what more can be done
Customers challenged us on both the measures currently in place and those not yet deployed. We are continuing to test, scale and implement all safe and viable solutions, informed by field experience, technical expertise and learnings from other networks, including Western Power.
Communication
We heard clearly that our communications can feel inconsistent — sometimes too detailed, other times lacking context. We are committed to improving how and when we share updates, so information is timely, clear and useful.
What is underway now
Several initiatives are already being accelerated across affected regions:
Mobile generation in Minlaton
Minlaton is among the first locations where mobile generation will be installed to strengthen supply while other remediation work continues. We acknowledge, and apologise for, the teething issues experienced in the initial deployment of that generation and have taken steps to ensure these are not repeated.
Increased washing and targeted replacement
Manual washing and replacement of the worst-affected insulators has been ramped up, alongside continued inspections across impacted areas. We expect this work to be complete by the end of February.
Helicopter washing
Helicopter-based washing will begin in the coming weeks, allowing larger sections of the network to be cleaned more quickly — including live washing to minimise planned outages.
Strengthened operational readiness
We have enhanced monitoring during high-risk conditions and improved the flexibility of resource deployment across the State.
Planning for longer-term remediation
Work is being undertaken in parallel to ensure mitigations are in place to remediate the issue in the mid and long term, to ensure that customers in affected areas do not suffer a repeat of this situation in 2027.
What happens next
We will continue holding community meetings in other affected regions, including on the Eyre Peninsula, and may hold further sessions on the Yorke Peninsula.
Updates will continue to be shared on our website as new information becomes available.
We know many customers remain sceptical. We understand why. Rebuilding confidence will take time and sustained improvement in reliability.
What we can commit to is this: we will continue to prioritise this issue at every level of the organisation, mobilise resources from across the State, and be transparent about what we are doing and what challenges remain.
Thank you to everyone who attended and spoke openly. Your feedback is informing our response.
Minlaton community meeting presentation
Download a copy of the presentation shared at the Minlaton community meeting.