Mullewa residents seek outage compensation

Western Power is set to be out of pocket thousands of dollars as businesses and residents lodge claims for outages of up to 36 hours.

More than 700 Mullewa Western Power customers lost power last week.

After what Western Power called an “exhaustive search”, crews found a sheep’s head dropped by an eagle on a power pole near Moonyoonooka.

It caused outages in Mullewa, Northampton, Chapman Valley, Horrocks, Tenindewa, Wongoondy, Devils Creek, Tardun, Binnu, Yuna and Sandy Gully.

A Western Power spokesperson encouraged residents who were out of pocket to apply for compensation.

Customers affected by power interruptions for 12 continuous hours or more may be eligible for an $80 payment under the State Government’s power outage payment scheme.

The owner of Yarrumba Deli in Mullewa, Kate Brady, said the store would be out of pocket about $6000.

Ms Brady said she wouldn’t know the exact amount until she put an order in early next week, but she would be lodging a claim with Western Power.

“All my fresh items, meat, milk — anything that goes into a fridge,” she said.

“(Our) ice creams are just buggered. I just threw it straight into the tip.”

Ms Brady said the deli also lost two days trade because of the power outage.

A Mullewa resident, who didn’t want to be named, was annoyed Western Power did not inform affected residents about when the power would return.

He said he too was forced to ditch frozen goods that thawed.

“Western Power doesn’t even like to talk to you on their machine, they tell you to go online,” the resident said.

“But what happens when the battery on your laptop goes flat?”

- Geraldton Guardian

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