Understanding power outages
Power outages often happen because of lightning, strong winds, trees, damaged cables, equipment issues, or debris on powerlines. Bats, birds and snakes have also been known to cause disruptions.
What causes an outage?
If you see a life-threatening or dangerous situation such as a powerline on the ground, call 000 or the Power and Water emergency line on 1800 245 090 immediately.
Common causes
We commonly see power outages caused by lightning, high winds, trees, damaged cables and equipment, or debris falling onto powerlines.
Bats, birds and snakes have also been known to cause disruptions.
Dangerous situations
Stay well clear of fallen powerlines, damaged electrical equipment, and flooded areas where electrical hazards may be present.
Treat all fallen powerlines as live until our crews confirm the area is safe.
What happens next?
When a fault is reported
Once a fault or outage has been reported, our crews will respond.
Safety, environment and weather conditions, accessibility to damaged areas, and the time of day are among the many factors that affect how long it takes to restore your services.
Finding the fault
Powerlines stretch for hundreds of kilometres, particularly in rural areas from Darwin or Alice Springs.
Finding the cause of an outage can take time, as crews may need to patrol the line or carry out fault testing until they locate the problem.
During major weather events
After a cyclone, storm or flood, restoration priority is given to facilities essential to community health and welfare, including hospitals, nursing homes, evacuation centres, communication facilities, and emergency services.
If you’re experiencing an outage
Follow these steps
Step 1: Check current outages
View our current outages and works page.
Step 2: If your property is not listed, report a fault
Report a non-life-threatening outage or call us on 1800 245 092.
Step 3: Let our crews work safely
If you see our crew or approved contractors in your street, they are already looking for or repairing faults.
Please do not attempt to stop a Power and Water vehicle to report an outage.
Watch: what to do during a power interruption
In this video, Jack explains what to do if you are experiencing a power interruption.
How we deal with major outages and emergency events
Providing essential power, water and sewerage services to Territorians means we must be prepared, able to respond to, and recover quickly from an emergency event.
To achieve this, Power and Water follows an event management and recovery plan. We have crews on standby around the clock and operate a 24 hour call centre.
Find out more about how we prepare for emergencies and how we respond to an emergency event.
