On Monday night when this correspondent’s power went out for 15 hours and the food in my fridge evolved into higher life forms I thought it was a challenge to the natural order of selection (the Meat section finally took control from the Dairy).

Yesterday afternoon, barely seven hours after power was restored, when it blinked out in the middle of an (all new) Simpson’s episode, I was cranky.

Now Western Power, with a heavy dose of Eric Ripper close behind, has told us power saving emergency measures are now in effect, with air conditioning and refrigeration now being non-essential activities and to be shut down.

With the power of a special law enforced after an emergency meeting of Western Power officials yesterday a ban has been put on the use of air-conditioners across WA. Backing up the powers are enforceable $10,000 fines for companies running the gauntlet and $1,000 for residential use.

The use of fans to stir the heat and move Perth’s 60% humidity around has been approved.

Typically the blame game has started already with the Gallop Government blaming previous governments and Western Power blaming consumers for using too much power in summer.

The official theory is that power generators have been drawing too much gas from the pipeline during the past two days which means the pressure in the line has dropped.

Western Power had apparently budgeted for a three percent growth in energy demand over the past year when actual figures showed 10% growth.

Right now Epic Energy could be excused for saying ‘I told you so’ in reference to its continual claims about the need for an expansion to the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline, and this week’s events could have some sort of impact on the eventual sale price of the company’s prime asset.

However, the question that Perth residents want answered is how can a state with only 1.5 million people but 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas not be able to supply adequate power?

Perth's power supply already suffered a tumultuous 2003 with Western Power warning of rolling blackouts in August and October, while large chunks of the city had their power supply cut when the Collie Power Station crashed due to a faulty water monitoring device.

The ensuing investigations into WA's power structure revealed the state's energy supplies are being stretched by growing demand, ageing equipment and a dependence on the Dampier to Bunbury pipeline.

Western Power's 2003 Generation Status report claimed that the company will have just half the back up generation capacity it needs next year, regardless of whether its expansion program to meet future demand stays on track.

Prior to the Collie plant failure Western Power said it might defer the construction of a new $350 million power plant in the south west as there is a number of smaller generators planned for construction over the next few years. The company's alternate plan was to work on extending the life of the current generators beyond their planned retirement date.

However, the state's dependence on the Dampier to Bunbury pipeline means its closure would render these proposed new power stations useless.

Western Power claims to have the ability to produce enough power, while we know there is more than enough gas to keep this city running into the next century, the government that can put the two together will surely win a popular vote.

Right now my bacon is developing gun powder, and that could seriously tip the balance of power away from pork products in WA’s War of the Fridges.