NSW: Rees angered by second CBD power outage
04 Apr 2009 12:00 PM
Eds: includes comment from Premier Nathan Rees, and police
SYDNEY, April 4 AAP - The public is being urged to avoid Sydney's CBD as another power cable failure blacks out parts of the CBD and surrounding suburbs, again trapping people in lifts, closing the harbour tunnel and causing traffic chaos.
In the second major power failure to hit Sydney in less than a week, about 50,000 homes and businesses in the northern part of the city, along with parts of eastern and inner city suburbs, were blacked out about 10.30am (AEDT) on Saturday.
Police said emergency services were responding to reports of people being stuck in lifts, and the Sydney Harbour Tunnel has been closed in both directions until further notice.
"NSW Police Force Rescue and NSW Fire Brigades officers are responding to reports of people trapped in buildings and lifts," police said in a statement.
"The cause is currently unknown. However, NSW Police and other emergency services are working with power companies to identify the problem and resolve the issue as soon as practicable.
"A number of traffic lights have been affected.
"Police are undertaking point duty in affected areas, and are appealing to motorists to drive carefully when approaching intersections with blacked-out traffic lights."
Initial reports indicated up to 50 sets of lights were out of action, police said.
The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) said between 30 and 50 had been affected.
"The signals were in the Sydney CBD and the eastern suburbs," an RTA spokeswoman told AAP.
EnergyAustralia spokeswoman Kylie Yates told AAP that Saturday's failure was not caused by the same cable that failed on Monday. That faulty cable was being repaired, Ms Yates said.
"EnergyAustralia is working to reroute power to these areas (affected on Saturday) to get the power back on as soon as possible," she told AAP.
On Monday, 70,000 homes and businesses were plunged into darkness, causing peak-hour chaos, closing major road links, and leaving people stranded in lifts.
Some 140 sets of traffic lights were blacked out, with police directing traffic at 40 of them.
Power was restored within two hours, but not before the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) was forced to close two of the busiest roads out of the city - the Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Distributor - around 5.45pm (AEDT).
Premier Nathan Rees on Saturday said he was angry there had been another major power failure.
"I want to get to the bottom of this - it's not good enough," he told reporters in Sydney.
"I was told the other day that the chances of this happening again were one in a million.
"So I am seriously unhappy."
He said he had spoken to NSW Energy Minister Ian Macdonald and they were trying to establish what had gone wrong.
