History of electricity supply in Queensland

Queensland, Australia's second largest state in terms of physical area (Western Australia is the largest), achieved the early leaders' dream of providing electricity to every home entailing a considerable degree of pioneering, innovation, and commitment. Queensland proved to be a pioneer in the supply of electricity, with the first public demonstration in Australia, the first recorded use for public purposes in the country, the first Parliament House in Australia and the first commercial operations in Australia all occurring in Brisbane.

Generation and limited distribution was initially the responsibility of local authorities, until a central state-based authority to coordinate the generation and distribution of electrical power was established in 1938. In the late 1990s, the electricity sector was restructured to enable integration with the National Electricity Market (NEM).

The history of power generation and distribution in Queensland can be considered in three major phases: Initial local generation and distribution; creation of a statewide body and the consequent creation of an extensive network; and the restructure to enable integration with the NEM.

Queensland is the most decentralised mainland state, and initial local generation and distribution was the only viable option for the supply of electricity in many instances. The creation of regional, and then a statewide network from 1945 enabled economies of scale and reliability to be obtained, particularly by generating plants. Within a decade of the statewide network being completed, the establishment of the NEM provided new commercial opportunities for generators and improved reliability of supply.

In 1882, a demonstration of what electricity could do was conducted with eight arc lights along Queen Street in Brisbane, the capital and largest city in Queensland. Power was supplied by a 10 hp generator driven by a small engine in a foundry in Adelaide Street. This was Australia's first recorded use of electricity for public purposes.

The first practical use of electricity was for lighting in the Government Printing Office in George Street in April 1883. In 1886, the Roma Street Railway Yards were using arc lights, and in the same year, an underground cable connected the Parliament House from the Printing Office, the first of any Parliament House in Australia. The supervision of the laying of cable was done by E.C. Barton, who formed a company with C.F. White and in 1888 built a power house in Edison Lane behind the General Post Office with a generating capacity of 30 kW. The General Post Office became the first consumer of electricity in Australia and Barton and White the first electricity supplier in Australia. Adjoining shops were supplied by overhead wires, becoming the first non-government customers.

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