Power outage update - 13 February storms
Update: 11am, Friday 16 February 2024
Our teams are continuing to work non-stop to repair the network and get power back on. This includes linespeople, inspectors, vegetation crews, control centre and contact centre specialists and many more. Some of our liney friends from CitiPower and Powercor are also on the ground lending a hand.
We know some of you are experiencing issues seeing an up-to-date restoration time on the outage map. This was due to a technical issue, which has now been resolved.
Please be assured we’re working to keep restoration times up to date, but if you would like an update you can call our faults team on 13 20 99 (press 2, enter your NMI and after the recorded message you’ll be put through to an agent).
We know this is frustrating but assure you that we're doing everything possible to get power back on and appreciate your continued patience, resilience and kindness.
If there's been damage to the power infrastructure on your property, please visit our storm safety page for guidance on how to reconnect.
If you see a fallen powerline, stay well away, assume it is live and report it immediately on 13 20 99. More information on powerline safety.
For information on guaranteed service levels and automatic payments visit our network reliability page.
Update, 7.30pm, 15 February 2024
Our teams have been working around the clock to repair the network and get power back on. The restoration work has been complex and challenging. We’ve had huge trees, branches and lightning cause major damage. In some areas we’ve had to rebuild the network.
As our crews are working through the damage, they're finding further repairs that are needed. The complexity of some of these faults mean we have had to move some estimated restoration times. We are sorry and are working to update the times on our outage map.
We know this is frustrating but assure you that we're doing everything possible to get power back on.
If there's been damage to the power infrastructure on your property, please visit our storm safety page for guidance on how to reconnect.
If you see a fallen powerline, stay well away, assume it is live and report it immediately on 13 20 99.
Update: 9am, 15 February 2024
Our crews have continued to work through the night, and as of this morning we're down to 4600 homes and businesses without power as a result of 495 individual faults.
While this a great turnaround from the original 180,000 off supply on Tuesday night, we know this still leaves 4600 of you without power for multiple days.
Please know that we are doing everything we can to get your power back on and our crews will be continuing to work today and tonight. We appreciate your patience and resilience in what’s been a difficult week.
We'll continue to keep you updated via SMS and our outage map (unitedenergy.com.au/outage-map/), and our contact centre is open 24/7 on 132 099. VERA will be out on the road again, the exact location will be posted soon.
Please remember if see a fallen powerline, stay well away, assume it is live and report it to us immediately on 13 20 99.
Update: 4.30pm, 14 February 2024
United Energy is continuing to repair damaged poles, wires and other infrastructure and restore power to homes and businesses following yesterday’s severe storms.
Crews and control room operators have restored power to more than 200,000 customers across Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs and the Mornington Peninsula.
We are working to get power back on to about 12,000 homes and businesses. We expect to have power supply restored to another 6000 properties by late tonight. Repair and restoration work will continue overnight and into tomorrow.
We will keep customers updated on our progress and estimated restoration times through SMS, our outage map and our customer contact centre.
If people see a fallen powerline, stay well away, assume they are live and report them to us immediately on 13 20 99.
We deployed our emergency response vehicle (known as VERA) to Mulgrave today to provide on-the-ground advice to community members impacted by outages. We’ve provided people a place to charge mobile phones and other devices, a wifi hot spot, coffee and information about the current situation. We are assessing where to deploy our support vehicle tomorrow.
We want to assure all our customers still affected by these outages that we are working as safely and as quickly as possible to get power back on. We know this has been difficult for many customers and we appreciate their understanding during this time.
We have information available on our website about steps customers can take to reconnect power if their supply on their premises has been damaged during this storm, visit our emergency advice page.
Update: 11:00am, 14 February 2024
United Energy is working to restore power to about 16,000 homes and businesses that remain without power after yesterday’s wild weather.
Extra crews are on the ground assessing damage and conducting repairs. Yesterday’s severe storms caused widespread damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.
We are responding to more than 1000 different fault jobs, including hundreds of fallen wires.
Our work includes rebuilding the network in some areas, replacing power poles and repairing power lines.
We urge people to stay well away from fallen powerlines, always assume they are live and report them immediately to us on 13 20 99
We understand how frustrating it is to be without power and we thank our customers for their understanding as we work to get power back on.
Given the extent of the widespread damage, we do expect some customers will be off power for multiple days. We will keep people updated via SMS, our website and our customer centre.
We have deployed our emergency response vehicle (known as VERA) to Mulgrave today to support people without power. The vehicle provides a hub for people to charge phones, use a Wifi hotspot and get on-the-ground advice about the current outages. It will be based at 355 Wellington Road in Mulgrave.
Over the past 24 hours, we have restored power to more than 190,000 customers.
For information on guaranteed service levels and supply restoration payments visit our network reliability page.
Update: 9pm, 13 February 2024
We're responding to more than 600 faults and working to restore power to over 120,000 customers across Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs and Mornington Peninsula following this afternoon’s wild weather.
Severe winds and thousands of lightning strikes have caused significant damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.
If people do see a fallen powerline, they should stay well away from them and report them to us immediately on 13 20 99. Please always assume a powerline is live.
In addition to the extreme weather, the United Energy network was impacted by transmission network load shedding that resulted in two zone substations being de-energised, which impacted power to those customers connected to the sites.
This action (load shedding) occurred under the direction of the Australian Energy Market Operator and was in response to major electrical transmission infrastructure damage from storms in western Victoria.
Due to the large volumes and complexity of the damage, restoration times will be longer than usual and some customers may be without power for multiple days.
We have extra crew, control and customer centre resources on board working around the clock to respond and restore power as safely and as quickly as possible.
We will keep customers updated via SMS and our outage map.
4pm update
We're now working to restore power to approximately 180,000 customers as the severe storm front sweeps through Melbourne's east and the Mornington Peninsula
Crews are currently responding to around 130 different jobs across the network.
Please put your safety safe and follow all emergency advice. If you see a fallen powerline, stay more than 10 meters away and report it to us immediately on 132 099.
We will continue to keep you updated via SMS and our outage map.
3pm update
United Energy crews are working to restore power to more than 86,000 customers as a severe storm front pushes through Melbourne.
A combination of extreme temperatures, strong winds and thousands of lightning strikes are causing damage to poles, wires and other electrical infrastructure.
Throughout this afternoon and into this evening, we are expecting more winds, storms and lightning and we're urging people to take steps to prepare for power outages now.
If you see a fallen powerline, stay more than 10 meters away and report them to us immediately on 132 099.
We will continue to keep people updated via SMS and our outage map.
Advice for preparing for power outages
Be Safe.
- Have a back-up plan ready if you rely on life support equipment or need electrical items to care for babies, the disabled, elderly or pets.
- Plan to keep food safe. Set your fridge to 5 degrees (5oC) or below. An unopened fridge will keep food for about four hours.
- Have plenty of drinking water available if your supply relies on power.
Be Smart.
- Download the VicEmergency app and keep emergency phone numbers handy.
- Know how to connect computers and tablets to your mobile phone’s hotspot.
- Back-up computer files.
- Know how to open electric garage doors and gates manually.
Be Ready.
- Charge mobile phones, laptops and portable back-up batteries.
- If you have a rooftop solar system or a battery, check that it is able to operate in a power outage.
- If you plan to use a diesel generator, make sure it’s fully fuelled, operational and that you know how to safely operate it.
- Have a battery-powered radio available for real time news updates.
- Keep battery-powered lamps or torches handy.