Nick Harmsen is the political reporter for ABC News in South Australia. An award-winning journalist, Nick has more than a decade's experience reporting for a host of ABC programs from Queensland, South Australia and Parliament House in Canberra. For the past five years he has focused on South Australia's political scene, covering elections, budgets and debates on ABC TV, online and during regular appearances on 891 ABC Adelaide's Spin Cycle. In 2011, Nick and his colleague Angelique Johnson were nominated for a Walkley Award for their breaking coverage of the SA Government's leadership transition from Mike Rann to Jay Weatherill.
Posted
| UpdatedThe powers that be are stumbling in the dark to prevent a looming energy crisis, as the grid seeks to balance competing demands — both environmental and economic.
Topics: coal, electricity-energy-and-utilities, oil-and-gas, alternative-energy, federal---state-issues, australia, sa, adelaide-5000
Posted
| UpdatedWithout a swift response, Australia could face a difficult choice — keeping the power on or cutting gas supplies to residential and business customers, the energy market operator warns.
Posted
| UpdatedHoping to spare South Australians from blackouts, the national market operator defers some transmission line maintenance in western Victoria.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, sa, osborne-5017, adelaide-5000, port-adelaide-5015
Posted
| UpdatedAs South Australia continues to grapple with unreliable power supply, a parliamentary committee is told a recommendation to buy or lease a gas-fired electricity generator was made to the State Government last month.
Topics: wind-energy, solar-energy, alternative-energy, environment, oil-and-gas, industry, states-and-territories, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, sa
Posted
| UpdatedGuess who? She's 65, lives in a caravan and survives on a Centrelink pension. Give up? She's the South Australian Government's most significant fine defaulter.
Topics: states-and-territories, government-and-politics, community-and-society, welfare, sa
Posted
| UpdatedIn a scene straight out of Hogwarts, South Australia's Lower House transforms into a Chamber of Secrets, with a Labor MP repeatedly refusing to say the name of a new colleague and political rival.
Topics: state-parliament, parliament, government-and-politics, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
Posted
| UpdatedPlanned work on a Victorian transmission line will be delayed following SA's power station fire.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, emergency-planning, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
Posted
A plan which could force more gas into South Australia's energy market to put downward pressure on power costs and improve reliability is flagged by Premier Jay Weatherill.
Topics: states-and-territories, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, environment, electricity-energy-and-utilities, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
| UpdatedThe national energy regulator takes the highly unusual step of reassuring South Australians that it is not forecasting supply shortfalls as temperatures reach the high 30s over the next four days.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, parliament, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, alternative-energy, environment, sa, adelaide-5000
Posted
| UpdatedThe South Australian Labor Party is set for more infighting over preselections, with a group of left-wing industrial unions backing their own candidate for a vacancy in the Upper House.
Topics: political-parties, parliament, state-parliament, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000
Posted
| UpdatedElectricity load shedding in South Australia last week, which affected 90,000 customers, was three times the level ordered by the Australian Energy Market Operator, a report into the blackouts finds.
Topics: government-and-politics, states-and-territories, sa, adelaide-5000
Posted
| UpdatedSouth Australians enduring a severe heatwave have been warned they could face power cuts as the state struggles to meet power supply demands. We take a look at the process of load shedding and why it takes place.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, alternative-energy, environment, wind-energy, solar-energy, states-and-territories, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, sa, australia
Posted
| UpdatedLabor veteran Stephanie Key tells supporters she will exit South Australian politics when voters go to the polls in March next year.
Topics: states-and-territories, political-parties, alp, government-and-politics, ashford-5035, croydon-5008, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
Analysis of South Australia's September blackout identifies a "potential stability issue" when high power imports coincide with high levels of wind generation in the state.
Topics: states-and-territories, parliament, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, electricity-energy-and-utilities, sa
Posted
| UpdatedThe closure of Victoria's Hazelwood coal-fired power station is expected to drive up South Australian power bills by 7.2 per cent next financial year, adding about $115 to the annual bills of an average household.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, states-and-territories, community-and-society, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
| UpdatedSouth Australia's renewables-heavy power mix was a factor in the statewide blackout in September, a new report by the Australian Energy Market Operator confirms.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, federal---state-issues, weather, storm-event, sa, australia
Posted
| UpdatedA group of prominent South Australian business people, academics and scientists sign an open letter to the state's politicians urging them to keep discussion alive on building an international nuclear waste dump.
Topics: nuclear-issues, environment, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
| UpdatedSouth Australia's statewide blackout in September cost business $367 million with the state's big companies bearing the burnt of losses, figures show.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
| UpdatedThe Liberal Party's chances of winning the 2018 South Australian election have greatly improved after a boundary redistribution notionally handed the party two additional seats.
Topics: electoral-system, government-and-politics, states-and-territories, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
Those who blamed last week's blackout in South Australia on renewable energy are dead wrong, but that does not mean the state's renewable-heavy power mix is not posing problems as ABC political reporter Nick Harmsen explains.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, industry, states-and-territories, state-parliament, federal---state-issues, government-and-politics, weather, sa, adelaide-5000, australia
Posted
| UpdatedSouth Australia will spend $432 million on changes to its child welfare systems, in the wake of scathing findings by the Child Protection Systems Royal Commission.
Topics: state-parliament, parliament, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, child-abuse, public-sector, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
Leaked documents reveal the South Australian Opposition is considering a pre-election commitment to spend up to $150 million and upgrade the Oaklands road and rail crossing in Adelaide.
Topics: federal---state-issues, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, local-government, urban-development-and-planning, oaklands-park-5046, marion-5043, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
| UpdatedSpecial consideration was given to Attorney-General John Rau's application to become a Senior Counsel, South Australia's Chief Justice Chris Kourakis confirms, to spare any embarrassment had it been rejected.
Topics: judges-and-legal-profession, law-crime-and-justice, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
The city lane between Currie and Hindley streets is to be free of cars over summer weekends, as the City Council and State Government try to entice more people to enjoy the area's growing number of small bars.
Topics: urban-development-and-planning, states-and-territories, local-government, government-and-politics, adelaide-5000, sa
Posted
| UpdatedNew documents confirm that Family First Senator Bob Day effectively gave $1.47 million to his political party a year after taking a sizable dividend from his loss-making home building empire.
Topics: government-and-politics, federal-parliament, parliament, corporate-governance, adelaide-5000, sa, australia