Increased and fast-tracked payments for customers affected by the Mildura outage

Customers affected by the recent power outage in Mildura will be eligible for an increased and fast-tracked payment of $380. 

The power outage was caused by a vehicle striking a power pole that led to a major power surge (known as a high-voltage injection).  

Given the disruption and inconvenience caused by this outage, we have increased the payment amount for eligible customers from $90 to $380. 

GSL payments are automatically deducted from a customer's future electricity bill however Powercor is offering to bring forward this payment and pay eligible customers directly.   

Customers who don’t apply for the fast-tracked payment will ONLY receive a $90 payment as a credit in their next electricity bill.  

Who is eligible?  

You may be eligible for the $380 payment if:  

• you were the electricity account holder for a property that lost power for 12 hours or longer, because of the high voltage injection incident in Mildura on Monday 21 September; 
• your electricity account is registered to a National Metering Identifier (NMI) in the area affected by the outage; 
• you apply for the payment by 31 October 2026.  

How to apply  

Before you apply, have the following details ready:  

• the full name of the electricity account holder   
• your National Metering Identifier (NMI), which is the 10 or 11-digit number shown on your electricity bill   
• the bank account details you'd like the payment made to.   

If you require assistance in applying please call us on 13 22 06.

Payments will be made from October.  

Why are we making this payment?  

The Mildura outage experienced on Monday, 21 September 2026 has been classified as a Major Event Day under the Victorian electricity distribution payment framework.  

A Major Event Day is a day when an unusual event, such as extreme weather, a storm or an incident outside our control, significantly affects electricity supply reliability. In this case, the event was caused by a vehicle crash.  

Major event days are assessed separately, so all the associated hours of the power outage are excluded from other GSL calculations.  

In this instance, we have chosen to increase the payment for eligible customers, from $90 to $380, if customers apply directly to us by 31 October 2026. 

More information or help

Call us via our Contact Centre on 13 22 06.

For more information on GSL payments visit the Essential Services Commission website (opens external site in a new window).   

For other types of claims and compensation, visit: Claims for compensation.