UPDATE – 3pm, Tuesday 13 January 2026
Powercor crews have responded to a number of faults caused by the Otways fires.
Work is currently underway to restore power to 12 customers that remain off supply as a result of fires around the Gellibrand River Road. Two damaged poles are being replaced today and customers will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so.
Power has been restored to all customers impacted by the fires in and around Carlisle River.
Repairs to fire damage around Shelford and Meredith began on Sunday when our team gained access to the affected areas. Repairs were completed on Monday, which included the replacement of SWER poles and transformers.
UPDATE – 11am, Tuesday 13 January 2026
Powercor has restored power to Harcourt’s township and is continuing to rebuild parts of its fire-affected network to get power back on to about 317 customers.
Since Friday’s fires, field teams have replaced more than 215 damaged poles as well as powerlines and other infrastructure.
More than 200 field employees will be working across the fire-affected areas in Skipton, Harcourt, Natimuk and Cobram today, continuing repairs with the aim to get all affected customers back on by the end of tomorrow.
Today’s work includes
Ravenswood and Harcourt: More than 700 customers were restored yesterday to large parts of Ravenswood and Harcourt townships. Work will continue today, with 17 poles to be replaced. Most of the remaining 153 customers off supply are expected to have power restored by tomorrow. Planning work is underway to rebuild power supply to Mt Alexander communications tower as soon as it’s safe to access the site.
Natimuk: Crews completed construction work on a major powerline and final clean-up work is expected to be completed today. Power is expected to be restored to the 37 customers off supply.
Cobram: Field teams are expected to finish all construction work in this area today and power is expected to be back on to the remaining 26 customers.
Skipton/Streatham: Crews will be replacing at least another 30 poles, as well as transformers and powerlines. Yesterday, teams replaced over 60 poles. Power is expected to be restored to the remaining 46 customers by the end of tomorrow.
Shelford/Meredith: Crews completed the final repairs yesterday and restored power to all customers.
Crews are still unable to safely access and assess some areas due to active fires.
Based on our current assessments, we expect to have customers back on by the end of Wednesday.
However, these estimated restoration times may change based on any further assessments by our team, and we will keep customers updated via our outage map, SMS, contact centre and other channels.
On-the-Ground Support
Our emergency response vehicles and community support teams will be on the ground in Castlemaine and Skipton from 10.30am today, providing assistance to residents affected by recent outages.
Customers can speak with our teams about their power supply, charge mobiles or other devices, or grab a coffee. We are at:
- Castlemaine Town Hall, 25 Lyttleton St, Castlemaine
- Skipton Mechanics Institute Community Hall (Town Hall), 5 Anderson Street, Skipton
Come down and have a chat with our team.
Reconnecting Private Properties
While supply is expected to be restored to all areas by end of Wednesday, some customers may need to conduct repairs on their private properties before they can reconnect to the network.
Customers returning to their properties are advised to make sure it’s safe before turning on appliances as water or fire may have affected electrical equipment.
- If any switches do not turn on, or automatically shut off, this indicates the wiring may be affected.
- You’ll need a licensed electrician to test your wiring and appliances.
- If you have rooftop solar panels, then contact your installer or a licensed electrician to check the condition of these panels before turning the system on.
Powercor will be waiving reconnection fees for properties affected by these bushfires.
If your property has been disconnected or affected by fire or water, you will need a registered electrical contractor:
- Search by location through Energy Safe Victoria at: https://esv.vic.gov.au/licensing-coes/public-register-and-searches/
- The electrician will complete a safety and compliance inspection
- Once any repairs are done they will issue a Certificate of Electrical Safety to us (at info@powercor.com.au)
- They’ll arrange the reconnection of your power through us by phoning 1300 360 410
More information is available at: www.powercor.com.au/media-and-resources/blog/reconnecting-electricity-after-a-fire/
UPDATE – 11am, Monday 12 January 2026
More than 200 field workers are on the ground today across fire-affected areas in Harcourt, Natimuk, Cobram and Skipton/Streatham as power restoration efforts continue.
Crews are focusing on rebuilding large parts of the power network destroyed by bushfires and restoring power to about 1,280 customers, with most in the Ravenswood and Harcourt region.
Since Friday, Powercor teams have replaced more than 150 poles and rebuilt large parts of the electricity network damaged by fire.
Crews working to replace poles and rebuild parts of the Powercor network in Skipton.
More than 100 poles will be replaced over the next few days, and teams are continuing to access fire-affected areas to assess other damage.
Today’s work includes:
- Nine crews are replacing 14 poles and repairing a high voltage line that will allow us to restore power to large areas of Ravenswood and Harcourt today. Further assessments of our network in fire-affected areas are continuing in this location. A specialised team has also been mobilised to begin rebuilding the power supply to Mt Alexander Communications Tower. Given the steep and difficult terrain, this work is expected to take a number of days. There are still areas in Ravenswood and Harcourt that remain unsafe for us to access. Our crews will continue working closely with CFA to safely access these sites to assess any damage and conduct repairs.
- In Natimuk, crews are rebuilding the powerline to Lake Natimuk and restoring power. Yesterday, teams replaced 21 poles and a further 20 poles are expected to be replaced today. We expect to restore power to most customers in the local area by tomorrow.
- In Cobram, crews are conducting final clean up and repair work, with most expected to be completed today.
- In Skipton/Streatham, 16 crews are replacing the remaining 80 damaged poles. This work is expected to be completed by the end of Wednesday. Yesterday the team replaced 38 poles and almost finished rebuilding the backbone of the main powerline in the area.
- In Shelford/Meredith, we expect to complete the final clean up today, with crews replacing SWER poles and transformers.
- Note that many of these areas still have an active fire front and we don’t have access to all parts of the impacted network. More repair works are likely to be identified.
Based on our current assessments, we expect to have customers back on by the end of Wednesday. However, these estimated restoration times may change based on any further assessments by our team and we will keep customers updated via our outage map, SMS, contact centre and other channels.
We are closely monitoring the Carlisle River fire that is threatening some electricity assets in the region.
We know being without power during this challenging time is hard. We have a large number of crews on the ground doing everything possible to safely restore supply.
Thank you to the CFA and other emergency agencies that are assisting our crews to safely access fire-affected areas. Their support is essential to our restoration work.
On-the-ground support
Our emergency response vehicles and community support teams will be on the ground in Castlemaine and Skipton from 10.30am today to provide assistance to residents affected by recent outages.
Customers can speak with our teams about their power supply, charge mobiles and other devices, or grab a coffee. We are at:
- Castlemaine Town Hall – 25 Lyttleton St, Castlemaine.
- Skipton Mechanics Institute Community Hall (Town Hall) – 5 Anderson Street, Skipton.
Come down and have a chat with our team.
Reconnecting private properties
Powercor will waive reconnection fees for properties affected by these bushfires.
If your property has been disconnected or affected by fire or water, you will need to engage a registered electrical contractor:
- Search by location through Energy Safe Victoria at: https://esv.vic.gov.au/licensing-coes/public-register-and-searches/
- The electrician will complete a safety and compliance inspection
- Once any repairs are completed they will issue a Certificate of Electrical Safety to us (at info@powercor.com.au)
- They’ll arrange the reconnection of your power through us by phoning 1300 360 410.
More information is available at www.powercor.com.au/media-and-resources/blog/reconnecting-electricity-after-a-fire/
UPDATE – 10.30am, Sunday 11 January 2026
Significant progress is being made restoring power to fire-affected communities in western Victoria.
Powercor crews are conducting repairs on the power network damaged by the Cobden, Streatham/Skipton and Natimuk fires, with more than 57 poles already replaced and at least another 172 needing to be replaced.
Our team and the MERV emergency response vehicle are supporting the local community and emergency workers at Natimuk
While the Harcourt area largely remains unsafe to access, yesterday crews worked closely with CFA teams to access the town and conduct some repairs. We will continue working closely with emergency authorities and will begin repairs as soon as its safe.
About 2,100 customers are off supply following Friday’s severe weather and fires. These outages are caused by fire damage to poles, lines and other electrical assets.
Today, crews are continuing to assess damage and rebuild extensive areas of the network. This work includes:
- In Natimuk, 40 damaged poles and other assets are being replaced. Yesterday teams replaced eight poles and rebuilt the network to restore power to the township. Work is expected to continue into tomorrow.
- In Cobram, crews are replacing 30 poles destroyed by fire. Most are expected to be completed today but some work is likely to continue tomorrow.
- In Skipton/Streatham, crews are replacing over 110 poles and rebuilding parts of the network. The extensive rebuild work will take some days.
- In Shelford/Meredith, we are monitoring an active fire that has impacted parts of the network. Drones were used yesterday to assess parts of the work and work will begin once it’s safe to do so.
We know being without power during this challenging time is hard. We have plenty of crews on the ground doing everything possible to safely restore supply to about 2,100 customers.
A big thank you to the CFA and other emergency agencies for helping our crews access fire grounds safely. Your support is essential to our restoration work.
On-the-ground support
Our emergency response vehicles and community support teams will be on the ground in Bendigo and Natimuk from 9am today, providing assistance to residents affected by recent outages.
Customers can speak with our teams their power supply, charge mobiles or other devices, or grab a coffee. We are at:
- Bendigo Relief Centre – Bendigo Showgrounds
- Natimuk Recreation Reserve
Reconnecting private properties
- If your property has been disconnected or affected by fire or water, you will need a registered electrical contractor:
- Search by location through Energy Safe Victoria at: https://esv.vic.gov.au/licensing-coes/public-register-and-searches/
- The electrician will complete a safety and compliance inspection
- Once any repairs are done they will issue a Certificate of Electrical Safety to us (at info@powercor.com.au)
- They’ll arrange the reconnection of your power through us by phoning 1300 360 410.
Powercor will be waiving reconnection fees for properties affected by these bushfires.
UPDATE – 10.30am, Saturday 10 January 2026
Powercor teams are working to restore power to about 4,800 customers following yesterday’s wild weather across Victoria.
Crews worked throughout the night, patrolling lines, repairing damaged infrastructure, and restoring power. Over the past 24 hours, we have restored power to over 119,000 customers.
At least five bushfires have damaged poles, wires and other electricity infrastructure, affecting power supply to over 3000 customers. The areas are:
- Streatham fire
- Harcourt fire
- Natimuk fire
- Yarroweyah fire
- Carlisle River fire
Several of these fires are not contained and we are unable to access our network due to safety risks and fire activity.
This means some customers may be off supply until early next week as it’s unsafe for our crews to enter these areas.
We are working with emergency authorities to safely access fire grounds and, where possible, we will conduct aerial drone inspections of the power network to allow us to assess the damage and plan repair work.
Repairs in non-fire areas are continuing and we expect to get power back on to those other 1800 customers today. These faults are predominantly in Ballarat, Geelong, Werribee and Melbourne.
We understand being without power during this challenging time is difficult and our teams are doing everything possible to safely get power back on.
We will keep our customers updated on our progress through our outage map, SMS and our customer contact centre.
Fire may have brought down powerlines in some areas. Stay well away from fallen powerlines, always assume they are live, and report them immediately to us on 13 24 12.
UPDATE – 3.00pm, Friday 9 January 2026
Powercor crews are working to restore power to more than 25,200 customers across western and northern Victoria as winds strengthen and temperatures soar into the 40s. This includes 1220 properties in St Arnaud and surrounding areas.
Wind speeds of over 90kmh, combined with high temperatures, are creating challenging conditions across our network and leading to localised power outages in some parts.
The hardest hit areas are currently Werribee, Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, Truganina, Melton, Woodend and surrounding areas, Ballarat, Bendigo and surrounding areas and Shepparton.
The causes of these power outages vary and include a car accident, fallen trees, lightning and wildlife.
As the weather conditions deteriorate, including with predicted 120km winds, we expect further impacts to our electricity network and we are asking people to take action now.
We have significantly increased resources across our field teams, controllers, customer centre representatives and other areas and are doing everything possible to get power back on as quickly as possible.
UPDATE – 1.00pm, Friday, 9 January 2026
Winds are building across the state at temperatures climb into the low-40s.
There are 7,097 premises without power as of 1pm, most of which are situated in the Macedon Ranges. Powercor crews have responded and are working to restore power to 6,618 impacted customers.
UPDATE – 10.30am, Friday, 10 January 2026
Strong winds are already impacting parts of our network and this is leading to localised outages in some areas.
Our crews and controllers are working to restore power to about 2,846 customers as safely as possible.
The main areas currently impacted are Yarrawonga, Shepparton and Casterton.
Due to the catastrophic fire danger conditions, we are operating our safety settings on our network in a very sensitive mode to reduce the risk of fires. These devices are designed to keep communities safe but do increase the likelihood of power outages occurring during these extreme conditions.
In many cases, our crews will need to patrol the lines to make sure they are safe before power can be safely restored, and this may mean restoration times are longer than usual.
We will keep customers updated on restoration times via SMS, our outage map and our customer contact centre.
We are encouraging people to take action now to prepare for today’s challenging conditions and ensure power outages are part of your emergency plan.
Bushfires can 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 several days before crews can safely access sites and complete repairs to electrical infrastructure.
Extreme conditions can also bring down powerlines. If you see a fallen powerline, always assume they are live, stay well away and report them to us on 13 24 12.
We understand how difficult it is to be without power on such a challenging day, and we are doing everything possible to get power back on safely.
