Premier Mark McGowan has defended the reliability of Western Power's massive network which has received heavy criticism following widespread blackouts in the WA Goldfields this week.

More than 16,000 customers in Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the surrounding towns of Kambalda, Coolgardie and Southern Cross were without power for extended periods on Sunday and Wednesday. 

This week's blackouts left businesses thousands of dollars out of pocket and were blamed on issues with the transmission line between Kalgoorlie and the Collgar substation at Merredin.

Western Power CEO Sam Barbaro met with community leaders in Kalgoorlie-Boulder on Friday, as the State Government-run utility conducts essential repairs to the 220kv line servicing Kalgoorlie.  

Speaking in Esperance where he will open the Shark Lake Renewable Hub today, Mr McGowan said the blackouts were "unfortunate" and that he had received advice that the cause was "environmental factors".  

Mr McGowan said the new power station in Esperance will generate 50 per cent of the town's energy supply from renewable sources, adding that renewable options are being considered to "beef up the system in Kalgoorlie".  

He said he could not make any commitments to Goldfields residents that the blackouts will not happen again.  

"It's unfortunate and I know it's causing a lot of grief," Mr McGowan told the ABC. 

"We do our best to maintain basically the biggest power system for the smallest population in the world.

Mr McGowan was pressed again about the reliability of the network.  

"It's unacceptable that power isn't provided when people need it," he said.  

City gets 'Rolls Royce treatment': MP

Mr McGowan and Mr Barbaro both responded to comments from newly re-elected Federal Liberal MP Rick Wilson, whose O'Connor electorate takes in the Goldfields. 

In a statement late Thursday, Mr Wilson said he fully endorsed comments attributed to Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor John Bowler that the situation was "beyond a joke". 

"If the same ratio of outages to population were to occur across metropolitan Perth, about 1.2 million houses and businesses would have been without power," Mr Wilson said. 

The Premier disagreed.  

"That's just silly sort of stuff.," he said.

"I don't agree with trying to turn the country against the city.

"We provide a very large system — it's the size of Europe and has lines stretching across extended areas with very small populations so we do our best to provide a very good service, but occasionally these things do happen. 

Mr Barbaro also dismissed the criticism that metropolitan areas were given preferential treatment over the regions.

"If we look at regional expenditure more generally, regional expenditure maintenance outstrips metro area maintenance.

"In fact, over the last 10 years, most years it's substantially higher, and in a number of those it's almost double."

WA Nationals leader Mia Davies said the state government needed to sort out its priorities. 

"I think this government's got its priorities wrong, and certainly I feel for the people in the Goldfields," she said.

"This government could have contributed some of its $5.7 billion surplus to shoring up the supply in the Goldfields."

Energy Minister Bill Johnston spoke to the media at the opening of the Esperance power station.

He corrected a reporter who asked about "rolling blackouts" in the Goldfields, saying there was two outages and repairs were being carried out on the network.

"We obviously apologise for the outages," Mr Johnston said.

"It is unfortunately not possible to provide 100 per cent reliability but it is extraordinary the work that's done by Western Power.