AER has commenced Federal Court proceedings against Transgrid, following the Far West Power Outage of 2024

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has concluded its investigation into the October 2024 power system events that led to power outages in Broken Hill and surrounding areas.

As a result, the AER has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against NSW Electricity Networks Operations Pty Limited (Transgrid).

The AER claims Transgrid failed to: 

• Properly manage and maintain its network to minimise outages (June 2022 – October 2024).
• Restore power promptly after outages (October 2024).
• Ensure compliance with its NSW transmission licence (July 2024 – June 2025).
• Maintain a required compliance program for generators (November 2022 – October 2025).

Member for Barwon Roy Butler welcomed the action by AER.

“The far west will not soon forget the disruption caused by the outage," Mr Bulter said.

"This must be a turning point—our communities deserve a transmission and generation network that is resilient, reliable, and prepared for the future.

"Accountability today is the first step toward ensuring this never happens again.”