The remote outback Queensland town of Boulia has been plunged into repeated blackouts lasting as long as 14 hours, with residents and business owners blaming an 18-month vacancy in the town's permanent Ergon Energy electrician position for the worsening crisis.
Located roughly 300 kilometres south of Mount Isa, Boulia — a town of about 350 residents — has been without a resident powerhouse superintendent since the role was vacated, leaving no qualified energy worker on the ground to manage even minor faults before they escalate.
Power cuts hitting businesses and livelihoods hard
For Bob Spilsbury, who has owned and operated Boulia's Min Min Store for around 50 years, the persistent outages have delivered a direct financial blow. He says the blackouts have prevented trading for two or three consecutive days at a time, with power restored for only a couple of hours a day during the worst periods.
"We haven't been able to trade for two or three days running because [there's] only a couple of hours a day when the power has been restored. It's a great pain to be quite honest," he said.
The loss of cold goods and the inability to serve customers has put significant pressure on his bottom line. Mr Spilsbury says he understands that power outages are part of life in the remote outback — whether from equipment breakdowns or infrastructure upgrades — but the absence of a local electrician means what were once minor, quickly resolved issues now become prolonged ordeals.
Without anyone permanently stationed in Boulia, technicians must now travel from Winton, approximately 360 kilometres away. By the time a crew makes the journey, locates the fault and sources a solution, the repair process effectively consumes an entire day , Mr Spilsbury said.
"It all comes back to no-one here in attendance to look after the minor problems, which become major problems," he said.
Tourism pressure mounts ahead of flagship Camel Races event
The timing of the ongoing outages could hardly be worse for the Boulia Shire. The town's most celebrated annual event, the Camel Races, is approaching, an occasion that has previously drawn record crowds of around 4,000 visitors to a town that is home to just 350 people year-round.
Boulia Shire Mayor Rick Britton said the power problems were adding strain to what had already been a sluggish start to the outback tourism season. He noted that when electronic payment systems go down during blackouts, commerce grinds to a halt entirely.
"We can't have sales unless you've got cash," Cr Britton said.
In response to the looming event, Ergon Energy has agreed to station two staff members in Boulia during the Camel Races to help manage the situation while longer-term solutions are explored.
"[Ergon Energy] is going to put two staff in Boulia [during the event] until they can try and rectify the problem for us," Cr Britton said.
The mayor acknowledged the community's frustration but was careful to note that on-the-ground workers were not to blame, saying he felt for the crews who were doing their best under difficult circumstances. He said ongoing dialogue with senior Ergon Energy management had been productive and that the utility was working to help resolve the issue.
Ergon Energy points to the challenge of staffing remote Queensland
Ergon Energy has acknowledged the difficulties, with a spokesperson indicating that the sheer scale of Queensland makes it logistically challenging to maintain permanent staffing at every regional depot. The comments reflect a broader tension faced by essential service providers operating across one of Australia's most sparsely populated states.
For Boulia residents, however, the geographic realities offer little comfort. As Mr Spilsbury put it, living remotely demands a certain readiness for disruption — but the community's patience is being tested by outages that show no sign of abating until a permanent solution is found.
"When you're living in a remote area like we are, you have got to be prepared for an electricity outage," he said — though he and his neighbours are making clear that 14-hour blackouts are well beyond what anyone should have to accept.
