Latest news: Less than 100 homes and business now remain to be restored. It is anticipated that further reconnections will be completed in some areas over the weekend while other areas could take a few more weeks to restore.

 

Key messages  

  • With all transmission lines that were damaged by the cyclone now repaired and returned to the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS), crews are working to complete repairs to restore the distribution network and reconnect customers who remain without power. 
  • There remain less than 100 homes and businesses without power across the Mid West. 
  • We’re anticipating more customers in the areas surrounding Durawah, Northern Gully and Eradu South to be restored by 30 May.
  • Work will continue to restore the remaining customers along the Northampton to Kalbarri line, with restoration expected in the first two weeks in June.  
  • To date, more than 3000 poles have been repaired or replaced across the network. 
  • With around 20 percent of the network damaged, this is the largest-ever Western Power repair and recovery operation. It has been widely supported by local communities, emergency services agencies, local government authorities and WA businesses. We appreciate the community’s continued understanding and patience as we work towards completing repairs to damaged infrastructure and restore power as safely and quickly as possible. 
  • As part of our cyclone recovery operation, we’re looking at network upgrades and solutions to improve power reliability and quality for communities including replacing powerlines, replacing reclosers for network stability, incorporating other network improvement projects as we repair lines. We are also deploying stand-alone power systems (SPS).  We’re currently contacting owners to identify properties which might be potential sites for SPS once the cyclone recovery is completed. At this stage, several sites have been identified. 
  • We appeal to farmers to not remove damaged poles and wires on their properties and ask them to contact us so we can manage these items and enable seeding to continue.  

 

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON SPECIFIC AREAS, WORKING WITH FARMERS AND GENERAL COMMUNITY ADVICE PLEASE SEE BELOW.  

 

Please note: 

  • Customers will receive an SMS once power has been restored to their area. On receiving an SMS, they should check their meter box for tags, follow the information on them, and engage an electrical contractor if required. If they still do not have power after following these steps they must call us on 13 13 51. 
  • Once an electrician has inspected your property, and placed an orange tag on your meter box, the electrician must contact Western Power and notify them that the property is ready for reconnection after fault. Western Power will create a job that will be queued for a reconnection crew to restore power supply. Wherever possible we are working to restore all properties in the queue that are in a particular street or are closely located. We assure customers that we are working as quickly and safely as possible to process and restore outstanding connections.  
  • Anyone who remains without power should ensure their main switch is turned off in preparation for energisation.  
  • Once your property has been reenergised your power supply might not be restored as there are additional steps you may need to take. If your main switch is back on but you do not have power after energisation please report this to 13 13 51.  
  • If you have a network connection that you no longer require, you can apply for this to be abolished.  It’s free of charge for customers affected by the cyclone. Please contact 13 10 87. 

 

MID WEST   

 

Kalbarri and surrounds  

  • Kalbarri townsite has now returned to being supplied by the network.  
  • Yallabatharra on the southern part of backbone line  between Northampton and Kalbarri: There is a great deal of damage in this section, with approximately 100 poles down in addition to powerlines to be re-strung and damage to other assets. Construction is continuing and we estimate this work will take another 2 to 3 weeks. There are 26 customers affected by this ongoing work and appreciate their patience as we work to restore this part of the line which bore the brunt of the cyclone. 
  • Spurs off the northern part of the backbone line between Northampton and Kalbarri:  Work is needed to restore these spurs with the current estimate for restoration as the first week of June.  
  • Work is approximately 80% complete in the area from Yallabatharra to Northampton.  
  • An outage unrelated to the recovery work affected Kalbarri, Gregory, Sandy Gully and Yallabatharra on Friday 28 May. The outage was caused by a recloser trip possibly due to lightning. Power has since been restored.  

 

Alma, Ogilvie 

  • Work is complete in the Ogilvie and Dartmoor area with power restored yesterday, Thursday 27 May. 
  • A small network improvement project has been completed along one of the lines in this area.  
  • Six transformers have been energised at a spur in Sandy Gully.   
  • There is a section of line heading east from Alma area which has significant damage and will take around 2 weeks to restore. 

 

Northampton, Nabawa, Dongara, Geraldton, Port Denison  

  • Work in the towns of Northampton, Nabawa, Dongara, Geraldton and Port Denison area is 100% complete. 

 

Ajana, West Binnu, Binnu  

  • All work in these area has been completed.
  • There was a power outage from 08:00 –13:00 affecting the Ajana area today to enable us to repair a recloser. The community was informed prior to this essential work. 

 

Yuna, Naraling 

  • Work has been completed in the Yuna area with lines in the Naraling and Nolba areas the last to be energised.
  • The backbone line from Yuna to Wandana was restored on Thursday 27 May with approximately 80 customers reconnected.   

 

Durawah, Northern Gully, Eradu South, Eradu, Wicherina  

  • The backbone to Mullewa has been restored.    
  • There are two lines which require significant work in the area.  
  • Ambania: Work has been completed on a small spur line, south of the main Mullewa line, restoring 4 customers.   
  • Northern Gully and Durawah: Work has commenced on this line and we estimate it will be back in service by Saturday 29 May, however inclement weather forecast for the weekend might cause delays. Approximately 15 customers on the line have been restored with around 14 remaining to be reconnected.  
  • Eradu South: work to replace 37 poles and 20 bays of powerline on the line that heads south from the mainline to Mullewa and crosses the Nangetty-Walkaway Road has so far seen around 12 customers restored with another 12 aiming to be restored by Sunday 30 May.   
  • Work on the spur lines west of Mullewa has been completed and crews have moved on to work on spur lines in the Northern Gully/Durawah area.  
  • Work is approximately 85% complete in the Durawah, Northern Gully, Eradu South area. 

 

  WHEATBELT  

 

  • 42 townsites in the Wheatbelt have been restored to power.   

 

WORKING WITH FARMERS AND THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR  

  • We appeal to farmers where damaged poles and wires remain on their property, to not remove this equipment themselves.   
  • The scale of the damage has resulted in unprecedented logistical challenges and we’re working as fast as we can to address the hazards.  
  • Never assume a fallen power line is de-energised. Electricity is extremely dangerous.  
  • Each hazard that’s reported is assessed within the entire scope of network repairs, including the number of customers affected, poles damaged and the scale of work that needs to be completed to restore power.   
  • In the meantime, we’re working with farmers and agribusinesses to see if we can adapt our schedule to meet any urgent customer needs.   
  • We offer the following guidance to farmers to allow seeding to continue:  
  • If you have damaged electrical equipment on your property, if possible, please keep a path clear for vehicles to access, as per the normal route that Western Power vehicles access your property. Our largest vehicles are 2.5m x 12m. Do not attempt to move the equipment yourself.  
  • If a pole / line is intact and remain standing (just bent / leaning): we’ll require sufficient space on either side of the line to drive a truck / elevated work platform. We may require space for a turning circle around the impacted pole/line.  
  • If a pole or line is fallen: we’ll require room around the affected asset for trucks / elevated work platforms to navigate around safely, space for crews to setup for repair work and adequate turning circle for the trucks / elevated work platforms.  
  •  From a safety perspective, we’re reiterating to all customers: please stay 8 metres away from any downed poles or wires on your property. If you haven’t already reported any electrical hazards on your property to us, please call 13 13 51 (24/7). Farmers can also call 13 10 87 (Monday to Friday) to contact us about land access or to discuss your schedule and how we can adapt out restoration program.  

 

GENERAL COMMUNITY INFORMATION   

 

Information relating to the following is available on the Western Power website at: https://westernpower.com.au/cycloneseroja

 

  •  Life-support equipment  
  • Emergency response generators  
  • The Extended Outage Payment  
  • Fees related to network connections and reconnections  
  • Reconnecting properties – including inspections   

Personal generators