Power

LIBERAL candidate for Gembrook Simon Wildes said small business and jobs were being put at risk because of power outages.
Mr Wildes has blamed the Bracks Government for the power cuts saying it was ignoring the problems.
The criticism comes after Berwick and Pakenham suffered a number of power outages during the recent bout of extreme weather.
“The power outages are also causing disruption to residents,” Mr Wildes said.
“It has got to the stage where my five year old daughter awoke on Sunday morning and her first words were ‘Mummy is the power on this morning’?
“The Labor Government is wasting $80 million on advertising about world class performance while residents and businesses are living with almost third world power supplies,” Mr Wildes said.
However, Gembrook MP Tammy Lobato (pictured) said the State Government had brought electricity prices down, and increased the reliability of electricity supply by more than 30 per cent.
Ms Lobato said the independent Essential Services Commission reported that Victoria had experienced the lowest number of electricity supply interruptions since recording began in 1993.
She said the Government had delivered lower prices and increased reliability.
But it could not control extreme weather events that caused outages.