22 Feb 2019
Canberra has one of the most reliable energy networks in Australia. Put simply, we do not experience as many or as lengthy energy interruptions as other states and territories.
But the ACT’s energy networks operator Evoenergy understands the frustration people feel whenever there’s an outage.
Frustratingly, many power cuts that have affected the community in recent months could easily have been avoided.
“Unplanned outages in the ACT are often the result of external factors, out of our control,” said Evoenergy Branch Manager Clinton McAlister, “and we’re still seeing too many outages which could have been easily avoided.”
Tree branches falling on powerlines are the most common causes of unplanned outages. Closely followed by third-party damage to energy assets, including cars hitting poles or damage to mini pillars.
“During January the severe storms in Canberra caused multiple power cuts. Some of these could have been avoided if untrimmed trees on private property had not fallen onto overhead powerlines,” Mr McAlister said.
“In 2018 there were 87 avoidable electricity outages affecting more than 14,000 customers, compared with 2017 when there were 68 avoidable disruptions.
“To restore power and to fix assets takes time, and it means Evoenergy crews are often working in extreme weather to get things back on track as quickly and safely as possible,” concluded Mr McAlister.
Evoenergy has launched its latest Focus on Safety campaign to educate the ACT community on simple ways to avoid outages and stay safe around energy assets:
- Ensure trees on your property are at least 1.5 metres from powerlines and always hire accredited tree surgeons to trim your tree. A list of accredited tree surgeons is available at: https://www.evoenergy.com.au/residents/trees-and-powerlines/accredited-tree-surgeons
- Remember that Evoenergy owns and manages the electricity poles, wires and gas pipes in the ACT and parts of NSW, so please contact us for any outage-related issues or to report damaged energy assets.
- Prepare a storm safety kit. It may take a while for the power to be restored after significant damage to energy assets, so ensure your kit includes torches and batteries.
- Damaged assets can still conduct energy, so do not approach the asset, simply call our faults and emergency lines - 13 10 93 for electricity and 13 19 09 for gas.
- Follow Evoenergy on Twitter @EvoenergyACT for regular updates on outages affecting the community.
For more information on safety around utility assets and storms, visit www.evoenergy.com.au/safety
For further media information only:
Evoenergy
0414 515 359
