Power outage update – 13 February storms

Update: 9am, 15 February 2024

We’re pleased to let you know that as of this morning, we are down to 158 customers off supply. The majority of these are as a result of the bushfires in Pomonal and our crews will be continue to work today to restore power.

Thank you so much for your patience and resilience over the past few days. We know it’s been a tough week, but your kindness and respect has keep our lineys and support staff going.

For those of you still without power, we’ll continue to keep you updated via SMS, our outage map, and our contact centre is open 24/7 on 13 24 12 if you need us.

Update: 3:45pm, 14 February 2024

Powercor has restored power to more than 200,000 customers across western and central Victoria as crews continue to repair damage from yesterday’s severe storms.

Our teams have continued their restoration work throughout today and expect to have most of the remaining 4000 homes and businesses back on supply by the end of tonight.

Further work will continue tomorrow on smaller construction jobs, jobs in areas affected by bushfires and single premise faults. We’ll keep customers updated on our progress and estimated restoration times through SMS, our outage map and our customer contact centre.

The main areas currently affected include the Charlton region, with about 1500 customers off power. Powercor has supplied a large-scale generator to supply the township of Donald, as crews conduct repairs and restoration work.

We’re working closely with CFA to allow our crews to safely access fire grounds in Pomonel and Dadswell Bridge and assess network damage. We estimate about 260 customers are affected by faults in the Grampians region.

We would remind people to stay well away from fallen powerlines, always assume they are live and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.

We have attended Lara with our Mobile Emergency Response Vehicle (known as MERV) to provide on-the-ground advice to community members impacted by outages. We’ve provided people a place to charge mobile phones and other devices, a wifi hot spot, coffee and information about the current situation.

This has been a difficult time for many customers and we want to thank them for their patience and understanding as we work to repair the network and get power back on.

We have information available on our website about steps customers can take to reconnect power if their supply on their premises has been damaged during this storm.

Visit www.Powercor.com.au/emergency

 

Update: 12pm, 14 February 2024

We are up and running with MERV – our Mobile Emergency Response Vehicle.

You can find us at the Lara Community Centre, 9/11 Waverley Road in Lara.

If you don’t have power and need support please come and speak with us.

MERV provides a hub for people to charge phones, use a Wifi hotspot and get on-the-ground advice about the current outages and is staffed by our people.

 

Update: 10:30am, 14 February 2024

We have extra crews on the ground focused on repairing damage and getting power restored to the remaining 9,000 homes and businesses still off supply.

We understand how frustrating it is to be without power and we thank our customers for their understanding as we work to get power back on.

We expect to get power back on to most properties back on today. However, there will be some customers who may be off supply into tomorrow. We will keep people updated via SMS, our website and our customer centre.

We urge people to stay well away from fallen powerlines, always assume they are live and report them immediately to us on 13 24 12.

We are deploying our emergency response vehicle (known as MERV) to Lara later this morning to support people without power. The vehicle provides a hub for people to charge phones, use a Wifi hotspot and get on-the-ground advice about the current outages. We will provide an update on the location on our social media sites later today.

Over the past 24 hours, we have restored power to more than 150,000 customers.

Yesterday’s wild weather caused extensive damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure. We are responding to more than 450 fault jobs across western and central Victoria.

For information on guaranteed service levels and compensation visit our network reliability page. 

 

Update: 7pm, 13 February 2024

CitiPower and Powercor teams are working to restore power to more than 89,300 homes and businesses after destructive storms hit the state, causing widespread damage to the electricity network.

Severe winds and thousands of lightning strikes have causes significant damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.

We are responding to more than 640 different faults, including fallen powerlines.

If people do see a fallen powerline, they should stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12. Please always assume a powerline is live.

Due to the large volumes and complexity of the damage, restoration times will be longer than usual and some customers may be without power for multiple days.

We have extra crew, control and customer centre resources on board working into the evening to respond and restore power as safely and as quickly as possible.

We will keep customers updated via SMS and the outage map. Please note that due to the high volumes of calls we are receiving, call waiting times are longer than usual.

 

Update 4pm, 13 February 2024

CitiPower and Powercor crews are working to restore power to about 107,000 customers as a severe storm front pushes through Victoria.

A combination of extreme temperatures, strong winds and thousands of lightning strikes are causing damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.

Crews are responding to more than 400 different faults across western and central Victoria, as well as Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

Throughout this afternoon and into this evening, we are expecting more winds, storms and lightning to hits western and central Victoria and we are urging people to take steps to prepare for power outages now.

If people do see a fallen powerline, they should always stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.

We will keep people updated via SMS and the outage map.

Over the past few days, we have been monitoring these extreme weather conditions and have extra crews, control room operators, customer centre representatives and other resources responding as we focus on getting power back on to our customers as safely and quickly as possible.

 

Update: 3pm, 13 February 2024

Powercor crews are working to restore power to more than 45,000 customers as a severe storm front pushes through western Victoria.

A combination of extreme temperatures, strong winds and thousands of lightning strikes are causing damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.

Crews are responding to more than 100 individual jobs.

Hardest hit areas include Geelong and the Surf Coast, Ballarat, Maryborough and the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Throughout this afternoon and into this evening, we’re expecting more winds, storms and lightning to hit western and central Victoria and we’re urging people to take steps to prepare for power outages now.

If people do see a fallen powerline, they should always stay more than 10 meters away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 24 12.

We will continue to keep people updated via SMS and the outage map.

Over the past few days, we’ve been monitoring these extreme weather conditions and have extra crews, control room operators, customer centre representatives and other resources responding as we focus on getting power back on to our customers as safely and as quickly as possible.

 

Advice for preparing for power outages

Be Safe.

• Have a back-up plan ready if you rely on life support equipment or need electrical items to care for babies, the disabled, elderly or pets.
• Plan to keep food safe. Set your fridge to 5 degrees (5^oC) or below.  An unopened fridge will keep food for about four hours.
• Have plenty of drinking water available if your supply relies on power.

Be Smart.

• Download the VicEmergency app and keep emergency phone numbers handy.
• Know how to connect computers and tablets to your mobile phone’s hotspot.
• Back-up computer files.
• Know how to open electric garage doors and gates manually.

Be Ready.

• Charge mobile phones, laptops and portable back-up batteries.
• If you have a rooftop solar system or a battery, check that it is able to operate in a power outage.
• If you plan to use a diesel generator, make sure it’s fully fuelled, operational and that you know how to safely operate it.
• Have a battery-powered radio available for real time news updates.
• Keep battery-powered lamps or torches handy.