SA's statewide blackout was 10 years ago - but electricity debate is still live
Ten years after a major statewide blackout in South Australia, the event remains a focal point for ongoing debates regarding energy policy and grid reliability. Former energy minister Tom Koutsantonis reflects on the incident as the region continues to navigate its transition to renewable energy.
Why it matters
The anniversary highlights the long-term political and technical challenges of managing energy security during a transition to renewable power sources.
Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis inspected damaged towers near Melrose in the aftermath of the blackout. ( ABC News: Dean Faulkner )
Link copied Share Share article Blackouts come in different forms — there are those that affect memory, and those that affect electricity.
But no mental blank has impaired the vividness of Tom Koutsantonis's recollection of the time when, on a tempestuous spring afternoon 10 years ago, power was cut to the whole of South Australia.
Reflecting on the precise moment when the statewide blackout began, the Labor MP smiled wryly at the irony of the circumstances in which he found himself at the time.
"I was actually in the parliament on my feet moving legislation relating to the National Electricity Market (NEM)," he said recently.
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