Ms MacTiernan raised her grievance in the Legislative Assembly on Thurday, May 7, where she told the Minister for Regional Development, Brendon Grylls, that placing a diesel generator in Ravensthorpe was “outdated” and “not fit for the 21st century.”

Ms MacTiernan said she was disappointed by Mr Grylls’ lack of vision in addressing Ravensthorpe’s vulnerable power supply.

“A biomass plant is the best option to strengthen the power supply in Ravensthorpe by providing renewable energy at a much cheaper price, while building on the agricultural production in the area.

“They have instead chosen an easier, old-fashioned, carbon intensive option.

“They are putting an investment into something completely inappropriate, when they could be focusing on renewable energy projects.”

Ms MacTiernan said that while there was still a possibility the biomass plant could be privately funded, a project of this magnitude needed to be supported by the State government.

According to Mr Grylls, the biomass power plant could still be some years away, which would not address the immediate problem for development in Ravensthorpe.

“We are talking about a town where they have blackouts and brownouts every day, and Ms MacTiernan is saying we should leave the people of Ravensthorpe for the next 18-24 months until we find a long term solution is not good enough.

“Yes, it includes an increase in fuel consumption and carbon emissions, but asking the people of Ravensthorpe to put up with regular blackouts for another two years is not an acceptable outcome.

“If your power’s out, it’s pretty hard to run a business.

“The power system average interruption duration index in Ravensthorpe is eight times the south west system average – the regulated target is 150 minutes of outage. Ravensthorpe regularly has 1,200 minutes of outage, which is a disgraceful outcome.

“I believe that in the short term the solution is going to be to isolate the town of Ravensthorpe (from the energy grid) and put in place a diesel generator, and I’m not prepared to make the people of Ravensthorpe wait.”

Mr Grylls said he would not rule out the possibility of a biomass power plant in Ravensthorpe in future.

“It is certainly an option we will be looking at.”