With Tropical Cyclone Alfred inbound, we’re finalising our preparations. Around 1000 locals are ready to support power restoration, and we have big contingents of our mates from Ergon Energy beginning to come down from the north.
Our depots in Alfred’s firing line are secured, we’ve stocked up on essential components and equipment, and our trucks and tracked gear and drones and excavators are in position. We’re ready.
And on the home front, our employees are battening down the hatches, too: shutting down their rooftop solar, securing anything that can get airborne, and making sure they have the right emergency supplies for the next few days. They’re ready.
One of the great strengths of our business is that we all live and work in the communities we serve, so we know first-hand how stressful Alfred is, and we’re laser-focussed on getting through it safely and getting power back on to our streets and neighbourhoods.
What to expect
As winds start picking up in earnest tomorrow, we can expect to see impacts on the electricity network. Where possible, we’ll respond, but as conditions progressively deteriorate, we will need to stand our crews down for their own safety. This is when a cyclone becomes a waiting game. Unlike the sharp, savage summer storms we’re used to in SEQ, Alfred will make its presence felt for many, many hours, with sustained dangerous winds, followed by heavy rain.
Our crews can’t begin damage assessments until the winds have eased, and even then, movements may be hampered by debris on roads and flash flooding. Once we’ve been able to get out and about, we need to make the network safe and build a picture of the job in front of us before we can start restoring power.
That’s the long version.
The short version? Cyclones aren’t like our regular summer storms: They take their time, they tend to trash a much bigger area, and cleaning up the mess they leave behind takes longer. It’s looking like some tough days ahead for a lot of people - we’ll do our best to share the latest, most accurate info with you, and we’ll be there every step of the way.
MYTHBUSTING
I heard you're turning everyone's power off at *insert time here*
No. This is an incredibly unhelpful – and untrue – rumour which appears to have originated from a hoax text. We do everything we possibly can to maintain everyone’s supply, and we don’t have plans to turn off the power. Our priority is always to protect the community, our teams, and the security of the electricity network. This sometimes forces us to de-energise for safety at very short notice, for instance if there’s significant damage that’s a danger to the public, or if electrical assets are at risk of inundation; but it’s never a step we take lightly.
TODAY'S TOP QUESTIONS
If the cyclone knocks my power out, when will it be back on?
We won’t know until we can do damage assessments, and this is going to take time. As we receive intel from our crews about estimates restoration timelines, we’ll update Outage Finder.
Should I shut down my rooftop solar?
In a nutshell, yes. Read our earlier post for how, and why, as well as the answers to literally hundreds of questions about solar shutdowns.
What about the planned work scheduled for my street?
Regular planned maintenance work is on hold for the time being. When we can reschedule work, we’ll post out notifications with new dates and times.
What if I spot fallen powerlines?
Report them immediately to 13 19 62 or 000 (Triple Zero), stay at least 10m clear, and warn other people to steer clear. We’ll have a crew there as soon as we can. Never assume someone else has notified us about wires down – we’d rather have 20 reports than none. And always call us about these life-threatening situations.
