Getting Reconnected

We focus on restoring power to public health and community facilities first and to the greatest number of customers as quickly as possible – for more details see Our Restoration Process.

Before calling Power and Water check your street and your neighbours. If they too don’t have services then it’s likely that Power and Water is aware of the problem. If however they have services and you don’t, then call Power and Water’s 24 Hour Faults – 1800 245 092 to report an outage, water or sewerage problem. Each call will have a work order generated. The orders are sent to System Control and then dispatched to crews who travel to the location of the outages to assess the problem and arrange repairs.

If there is a life threatening situation such as a power line on the ground or other threat to public safety from damage to our infrastructure then please contact us immediately on our emergency line 1800 245 090, or via the 000 emergency line. To free up the line for genuine life threatening situations though, please use the normal number for other queries.

In some cases there are certain things you, or other authorities, can do to assist in the restoration process.

Electricity

If the powerline that is attached to the facia (outside) has been pulled away from your house or business due to storm, cyclone, tree or other damage, it is your responsibility to have a licensed electrician check your property and issue a Certificate of Compliance before we can reconnect your power. This is to protect you and your property. The certificate of compliance is to confirm that the house is safe to re-energise and ensure that we don’t endanger your life by re-energising a house with damaged or water-logged wiring. You can notify us that you have this certificate by calling 1800 245 092. We will assign a crew as soon as possible to restore your power supply. The Crew will need to ‘sight’ the certificate. If the power line has come away from the power pole end, Power and Water will restore your service directly.

Water and Sewerage Services

If you have damage to your water and or sewer systems follow all/any directions issued regarding boil water alerts. Have adequate amounts of drinking water stored at your house and do not drink water from streams, creeks etc. It is also important not to use excessive water to wash down houses, driveways, cars etc.as we may still be restoring water supply to other areas.

Avoid flooded waterways that may contain overflow from the sewerage system and do not go near any dislodged sewer access opening (manhole). Please report all damage, leaks and dislodged access openings to Power and Water as soon as practical on 1800 245 092.

Removing Storm Debris

Storm damaged trees or other materials on private and public property, across power lines, power poles or affecting water services will be removed by Power and Water with the assistance of other authorities. Storm damaged trees not impacting on power or water services across roads and other public areas will be assessed and removed by local authorities. Storm damaged trees and other materials not impacting power and water services on private property are the responsibility of the property owner. In cases of widespread damage the local authorities will usually put in place a debris removal for the community as part of their disaster recovery program.