A major power outage that hit Mount Isa on Friday has been held up as demonstrating why the region needs the CopperString 2.0 project to be built.

An operational issue at APA’s Diamantina Power Station complex triggered the outage from just after 9am which affected about 10,000 Ergon Energy customers.

KAP leader and member for Traeger Robbie Katter said the outage was one side effect of Mount Isa’s power supply monopoly, which came about following the closure of the aged 218MW gas-fired Mica Creek Power Station in January.

He said the building of CopperString 2.0’s common-use energy infrastructure was now more important than ever. 

“If we were connected to the national power grid – like most other parts of the state – this outage would never have happened,” Mr Katter said. 

“CopperString 2.0 will deliver the reliability to us that all other communities in Queensland enjoy, and will prevent us from having to continue paying some of the highest energy prices in the world.” 

Related: Mount Isa council backs CopperString plan

Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said it was important to note that an outage of this kind was incredibly rare.

“The community should be assured that the government maintains emergency backup generators in the region to ensure hospital, water and sewerage supply is maintained,” he said.

“Temporary solutions, including mobile generators and the currently mothballed Mica Creek Power Station, are being investigated should future system issues arise.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to ensuring the long-term reliability and security of power supply for all Queenslanders.

“That’s why we are well down the path of negotiations on CopperString 2.0, with a government investment of $15.98 million to secure the generation and transmission of reliable energy through the National Electricity Market in the North West.”

Related: New power station online in Mount Isa

APA said it would investigate the root cause of the operational issue that led to the outage.

“APA worked with Ergon Energy and customers to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible yesterday,” an APA spokesman said.

“Power was restored to Mount Isa, Cloncurry and the surrounding regions from around 2.30pm.

“We worked with our larger customers from around 3pm to progressively and safely restore their power. Most of our larger customers had their power restored from early evening, with the final customer restored around 9.30pm.

“We apologise to our customers and the businesses and communities affected by the outage for the inconvenience caused.”