Powercor warns of potential outages

“Tomorrow’s conditions are among the most severe we’ve faced in a long time. We’re asking everyone to act now; charge devices, prepare backup plans and make sure you’re ready,” Powercor Network emergency manager Steve Rigoni said.

“Our priority is community safety. We’ll be operating our network on highly sensitive settings to reduce the risk of starting fires. This means power may be affected if faults occur.

“If an outage happens, crews may need to carry out safety checks and line patrols before restoring power, so restoration can take longer than usual.”

Powercor has activated its emergency response plan, with extra crews, control room operators, dispatchers, customer service specialists and technical experts ready to respond.

An outage in Shepparton on Thursday, January 8, that saw 2623 Powercor customers without power for 22 minutes from 1.15pm, was caused by a tree branch falling on a powerline near the corner of Balaclava Rd and Gowrie St.

The traffic lights at the Wyndham St and Balaclava Rd intersection were also temporarily out of action.

Powercor has said Victorians can prepare for Friday’s extreme condtions by charging phones and devices, keeping a battery-powered radio for real-time updates and signing up for SMS notifications about power supplies at powercor.com.au/notify

Mr Rigoni said bushfires could damage electricity infrastructure and affect electricity supply to properties, impacting equipment such as electric water pumps.

“If our assets are damaged by a bushfire, it may take days or longer for our crews to be able to safely access these sites and complete repairs to electrical infrastructure. Please make sure power outages are part of your emergency planning,” he said.

Advice on how to prepare

For more advice on preparing for outages, visit: powercor.com.au/power-outages-and-emergencies/