South Australian employers have suffered massive cost impacts due to significant power outages in the state.

Adelaide Brighton Limited is the latest South Australian company to outline the severe costs of recent blackouts, in the order of $13 million.

“Electricity disruptions in South Australia are now having a massive financial impact on South Australian businesses, which is simply unacceptable in a developed economy,” said Shadow Minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan.

“Adelaide Brighton say that disruptions in July and September last year drove up electricity and resulted in production losses at their plants.

“These outages also meant reduced sales to customers which is a real cost to the business and is very concerning for the state’s economy.

“South Australian businesses, large and small, are the backbone of employment in this state, but at the moment they are enduring the double-whammy of the highest electricity prices in the country and the least reliable supply.

“An affordable, reliable electricity supply is a basic requirement for businesses to operate and succeed, but at the moment any reasonable person would agree that our electricity in South Australia is neither affordable nor reliable.”