Guide to power outages
Power outages or blackouts can happen from time to time, especially during times of extreme weather. It is important that you know how to prepare for and cope during a power outage.
In the event of a power outage, contact your electricity distributor
You can also keep update via the AusNet Services Outage Tracker
Causes
Power outages can be caused by severe weather, such as lightning, floods, heatwaves, bushfires or high winds, or by trees contacting powerlines. Animals, car accidents or digging near underground powerlines can also cause interruptions to power.
Restoring power
Restoring power is usually the responsibility of your local electricity distribution company, which owns and maintains the poles and wires bringing power to your home.
How to cope with power outages
The State Government publishes a guide that provides information on why power outages occur, how to cope during an outage, and how you can help to prevent an outage.
See the Energy Victoria website for more information.
Food safety during a power outage
Keeping food cold during power outages is important to keep it safe. If food in the fridge or freezer has warmed up, it may become unsafe and cause illness.
Find out what to do to keep your food safe during a power outage, suitable for both food businesses and residents: