Today, Friday 9 January is a day of extreme risk in Victoria, with fires already burning, extreme weather forecast and a catastrophic fire danger rating across large parts of the state.
AusNet customers are being urged to prepare for the possibility of power outages.
AusNet distribution executive general manager Andrew Linnie said customer and community safety is our number one priority.
“We have put measures in place to help manage incidents if they occur including additional crews, and helicopter and specialist engineers to work alongside our control room operators. All maintenance and planned outage works have been cancelled,” said Mr Linnie.
Given the extreme weather and the need to maintain safety, it may take longer to restore power as we carefully inspect powerlines and check that it is safe before restoring power.
In areas where there is fire activity, AusNet crews will work with emergency services to get access to assess the damage, which may take some time.
Stay informed by being across Emergency Management Victoria’s warnings and advice messaging at www.emergency.vic.gov.au, while also being guided by emergency services.
If you are impacted by a power outage in the AusNet electricity network, you can find out more information, including when we estimate power will be restored, at outagetracker.com.au.
It’s important to be power prepared and know what to do before, during and after a power outage. The tips below will help reduce the impact on you and your family and keep you safe.
Put together an emergency kit in an easy to access place and let everyone know where it is. You should have battery operated devices such as a radio to receive important information in the event of an outage and a torch. Make sure you keep spare batteries in there too.
Check to make sure that your medical supplies are fully stocked.
Make sure you can open your garage or fence manually so you can leave your home if the power goes out.
