Have a back up plan: Eaton

Lights out. The repair process could mean further outages, and businesses are being urged to look at continuity solutions.

Power Management company Eaton has issued a reminder to electricity consumers about the importance of having a power management strategy, in the wake of the South Australian super storms this week.

Two tornadoes created havoc on Wednesday afternoon when they downed power pylons and lines.

General Manager of Power Quality John Atherton said Mother Nature is an unpredictable force with the power to disrupt our technology-driven world.

“As our social and work lives are in a constant flux of change, with efficiency being driven by digitised communication, Mother Nature Mother Nature has highlighted how our new world is ever-more dependent on safe and reliable power,” he said.

“Unfortunately these events are often what highlight the vulnerabilities in
power protection strategies both for business and the home.”

Mr Atherton said when events of this magnitude occur, there are usually weeks of unpredictable power as the grid and lines are repaired. Businesses dependent on power could look at short term solutions to keep their businesses running.

“We do simple things like our “Let Eaton Help” mandate to the team,” he said.

“This is where Eaton offers all business regardless of UPS brand a swap out to ensure power predictability during this challenging time.”

According to Restaurant and Catering Australia, the average loss for a foodservice business would be $5000 for the night of the outage alone.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the power outages compounded South Australia’s already poor reputation for high power prices and power availability.

“The blackout adds a sobering new dimension to South Australia’s power woes, which have been undermining confidence and causing major price spikes for some time,” he said.

In Whyalla, the steelworks was at a critical stage and Arrium staff had to fight to keep hundreds of tonnes of molten steel hot.

The company’s administrator Mark Mentha said the steelworks was operating in “safety mode” but it was at a critical stage on Thursday afternoon.

If the molten metal was to cool, four 180 tonne ladles would have to be jackhammered out later.

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