Right-wing politicians have blown hard on the anti-renewables dog-whistle since February 8, when extreme temperatures in South Australia were followed by rolling electricity blackouts.
Late that afternoon, power demand in the state spiked to near-record levels. From about 6pm, 100 megawatts 鈥 roughly 3% of the state鈥檚 total demand 鈥 was shed for about half an hour.
Yes, climate change was right there in the picture when a massive storm cut off power supplies throughout South Australia on September 28, forcing electricity workers to carry out a first-ever 鈥渂lack start鈥 to get the state鈥檚 grid operating again.聽Estimated as a one-in-50-years occurrence, the storm left high-voltage transmission pylons bent like paper-clips.
Power is gradually returning to South Australia after wild storms blew across the state last night, but some areas could be offline for days. The storm 鈥 associated with heavy rain, lightning, and severe winds 鈥 damaged transmission lines that carry electricity from power generators to people, causing a state-wide blackout.
South Australian premier 鈥渢he system operated as it was meant to operate鈥.