South Australia's Yorke Peninsula Faces Power Outage Solution

After 18 months of "countless" power outages caused by insulator pollution in regional South Australia, a solution is finally on the horizon.

That is the feeling in the Yorke Peninsula, where the problem has been most prominent.

In Minlaton, Watsacowie Brewing Company manager Josh Parsons said it's been a "pain in the backside".

"For a while there we were getting outages 10 times a night, flicking on, flicking off, and then substantial ones for a couple of hours once a week," he said.

"We've invested a lot of money into backup generation … just to combat those outages and issues that we've had with the power going off and on all the time."

The unstable power supply meant that the cumulative hours the generator has been used since 2024, roughly equated to "four to five months".

Mr Parsons said the generator had never been intended to be used so frequently, and the fuel crisis had added to the pain of running it so often.

Important machinery also has been damaged due to the unstable power supply, including a $15,000 glycol chiller, which is essential to preserving the 5,000 litres of beer produced weekly.

Mr Parsons said he noticed a significant drop in "bums in seats" during widespread outages, as people assumed the brewery was also without power.

$10m to combat insulator pollution

According to SA Power Networks, insulator pollution can occur in prolonged dry conditions that allow dust, salt and other contaminants to settle on insulators.

When combined with light moisture, a flashover event can occur and create a power outage.

These repeated events can cause the insulators to deteriorate, compounding the problem.

SA Power Networks will spend up to $10 million to address the problem, replacing 10,000 insulators across the state and coating 2,000 in silicon to prevent pollution build-up.

Preliminary scoping has begun, with major works set to begin in July.

According to the authority, pollution issues emerged as a reliability challenge in late 2024, before worsening last summer.

Guessing game for businesses

Minlaton Bakery owner Lisa Martin said it became a guessing game during the peak 2025 tourism season to "whether we were going to wake up to power".

With bakers arriving between 1am and 6am, as well as product in cool rooms, stable 24-hour power is essential to the business.

Between forced closures, staff wages and tossed product over the past two summers, Ms Martin estimates her losses were between $100,000 and $150,000.

Unlike the brewery in town, Ms Martin's bakery does not have access to a generator, due to both the cost and logistical issues of installing one.

Ms Martin added that she is entitled to the supply of electricity she pays for.

"Why should I fork out for a generator that's going to be about $90,000 to $100,000 when I'm actually paying this bill for a service that I'm not getting?" she said.

'Should have happened 18 months ago'

Ms Martin and Mr Parsons said they were thankful that something was now being done about the problem.

But both felt that it is an issue that never would have been allowed to occur in a metropolitan area.

"I pretty much guarantee you that the people and politicians and the high-up people who live in the metropolitan areas, they wouldn't stand for this," Ms Martin said.

"I guarantee that SA Power Networks wouldn't allow it to go on as long as it did [in the city].

"But because it was regional, it was like … 'We'll get [around] to that'.

Both Ms Martin and Mr Parsons also said it would have been good if the authority had conducted regular maintenance to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place.

"I mean, every year it should be [done]. When I was a kid, there was always a chopper flying around, washing off insulators and doing all that," Mr Parsons said.

"But, noticeably, over the past 10 years it hasn't happened."

SA Power Networks' external affairs manager, Cecelia Schutz, said insulator pollution had previously been considered an infrequent issue, with generally low impacts, and that it was only in the summer of 2025/26 that it emerged "as a major reliability challenge, demanding greater strategic consideration and planning, alongside an expanded operational response".

"Insulator pollution impacts are not the result of a decline in asset inspections, maintenance or upgrade," she added.

"SA Power Networks has continued to invest in these activities, which form a key part of our investment proposals to the Australian Energy Regulator, which must approve those investments."