Update on power outages – 2 January storms

Final update: 10am, 5 January 2024

All customers who were affected by power outages caused by Tuesday’s storms are now back on supply.

It may have been disheartening to see that the same areas impacted by lightning storms on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were hit again, but your patience has been nothing short of incredible over the past few days and we thank you for your warm messages.
Our restoration efforts during the days following Tuesday’s storms would not have been possible without the help of out-of-town crews in restoring power to our communities. Some lineys volunteered to return from annual leave early to be available, disrupting holidays for the family in some instances.

Update: 11am, 4 January 2024

Our crews are expected to restore power to all customers affected by Tuesday’s major lightning storms by the end of today. It’s been a grind however over the past 48 hours, we’ve responded to more than 380 faults and restored power to more than 120,000 homes and businesses.

We are continuing to repair damaged electrical infrastructure and get power back on to the remaining 69 customers. Most are located in the #Shepparton and #Echuca region.
We are also responding to a further 40 faults in the #Ballarat and #Kyneton regions after a band of lightning pushed through the areas early yesterday evening. Extra crews have been mobilised from other regions and are expected to restore power to the 400 impacted customers today.

Customers can visit the outage map to keep updated on estimated restoration times or phone 13 24 12. We appreciate the support and patience from everyone who has been affected by power outages during this incredibly unstable weather period.

Update: 12.30pm, 3 January 2024

Powercor crews from across the state have arrived to assist local crews with power restoration in the hardest hit areas, following storm damage yesterday.

More than 90,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the Powercor network over the past 24 hours, with significant damage to electricity infrastructure in Ballarat, Ararat, Stawell, Shepparton, Echuca and Cobram areas.

Crews are working across 380 faults, most caused by lightning, with 2400 customers without power.

Many customers are expected to have power restored throughout the afternoon and evening, but given the volume of faults and damage caused to parts of the network, particularly in northern Victoria, it’s likely that some customers will remain without power overnight.

We understand many of these areas are the same areas impacted by lightning storms on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and we want to assure all customers we’re doing everything we can to have power restored quickly and safely.

Customers can sign up for outage notifications and check the latest restoration times at www.powercor.com.au, or call 13 24 12.

Update: 2 January 2024

Powercor crews are working to restore power for 24,000 customers across central and western Victoria, after storms swept across the state today.

A significant amount of lightning has impacted the network, with crews working to address more than 200 faults.

Ballarat and surrounding communities are the hardest hit areas,  with around 13,000 customers without power.

Other areas impacted include Castlemaine, Bendigo, Hamilton, Ararat, Horsham and Maryborough, as well as some of the western suburbs of Melbourne.

Our crews will continue to work to have power restored throughout the afternoon and evening, but given the volume of faults and the damage sustained, some customers will be without power overnight.

We are keeping customers updated via SMS and our outage map.

As always, we thank all impacted customers for their patience and assure you that our priority is to restore power as soon as possible.

Stay safe – if you see a fallen powerline, please stay 10m clear and call us immediately on 13 24 12.

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.

Visit our Emergency Advice page to learn more.