Power outages across Victoria’s west and central region

Update: 3.30pm, Thursday 14 December

We continue to have crews on the ground working to restore power to approximately 58 customers who remain off supply.

We expect to restore power to everyone this afternoon.

We appreciate your patience and resilience if you have been affected by these power disruptions. We can’t control the weather, but we can control how we react to it, and we appreciate your support.

Update: 8.30pm, Wednesday 13 December

It’s not quite the calm after the storm but with weather conditions improving, our crews will work into the night to respond to faults as quickly as safety allows.

Approximately 10,000 customers across our network were without power today as extreme weather conditions swept through the state, and we currently have 2,200 customers without power.

While we expect to get power back on for more customers this evening, given the number of faults some customers will still be off supply into tomorrow.

We will keep people 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.

Update: 4pm, Wednesday 13 December

We are currently responding to over 180 faults as lightning and severe winds continue to sweep over the state.

More than 135,900 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes have been reported across our network since midnight, with lightning damaging some of our assets, resulting in power outages.

All hands are on deck with extra crews on the ground assessing damage and conducting repairs to the network. The hardest hit areas are Melbourne’s western suburbs, Shepparton, SwanHill, Geelong, and Maryborough.

We expect to get power back on to most customers today however given the large volume of faults, there may be some customers who will be off supply into tomorrow. We will keep our customers updated via SMS and on our outage map.

With the extreme weather continuing across the state, we are urging customers to take precautions in case power outages do occur: https://www.citipower.com.au/power-outages-and…/emergency/

Original update: 3.15pm, Wednesday 13 December

Powercor crews are working to restore power to about 10,000 customers across western and central Victoria as lightning and strong winds continue to push through the state.

Since midnight, more than 135,900 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes have been recorded in our network. Combined with strong winds, lightning has damaged parts of the electricity distribution network and caused power outages.

Extra crews are on the ground assessing damage and are conducting repairs to the power network.

With the extreme conditions continuing as the weather persists across the state, we are urging people to take steps to prepare in case power outages do occur.

We are currently responding to more than 180 faults. 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.

The Mallee, Wimmera and Northern Country are currently declared Total Fire Ban areas so our network is operating in more sensitive settings as part of our bushfire safety mitigation procedures. This means some outages may take longer to restore as crews may need to patrol long powerlines before safely getting power back on.

The hardest hit areas are Melbourne’s western suburbs, Shepparton, Swan Hill, Geelong and Maryborough.

 

Current customer numbers off supply

• Geelong 295
• Ardeer 3105
• Echuca 969
• Bendigo 656
• Swan Hill 1308
• Shepparton 2723
• Castlemaine 38
• Daylesford 96
• Maryborough 532

At this stage, we expect to get power back on to most customers today however given the large volume of faults, there may be some customers who will be off supply into tomorrow. We will keep our customers updated via SMS and on our outage map.

Click here to sign up our outage notifications.

 

 

 

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.