Around 255,000 of our customers were impacted by the severe storms in Victoria on 13 February 2024.
At 4:18pm on 13 February 2024, our Outage Tracker crashed. It remained unavailable until 9am on 21 February 2024.
We understand the frustration and inconvenience this caused our customers, who were not only left without power, but also without information.
We know we let you down and we are improving our systems so this won’t happen again.
Our commitment
In acknowledgement of our contravention of the Electricity Distribution Code of Practice, we have entered a court enforceable undertaking with the Essential Services Commission that requires us to:
- allocate an additional $2 million to the Energy Resilience Community Fund (bringing the total to $12 million) to further support customers experiencing financial hardship and building the capacity of local relief organisations. The additional $2m will be donated to the Brotherhood of St Laurence, St Vincent de Paul and Financial Counsellors Australia by 31 October 2024
- commission independent reviews of the Outage Tracker issues and our overall response to the 13 February storm event, with the reviews approved by the Essential Services Commission. In the coming months, we will publish the recommendations from these reviews and implementation deadlines, alongside our Board’s response to these
- issue a public apology via advertising in the Herald Sun and The Age newspapers
- distribute the entirety of the Fund by 31 December 2026, with any remaining funds being donated to charities approved by the Essential Services Commission within 30 days.
February 2024 storms
Independent post incident review (PIR) recommendations and Independent Outage Tracker review recommendations - Board of Directors’1 response
On 13 February 2024, Victoria experienced extreme weather that caused widespread damage to many households, businesses and infrastructure. This was the most impactful weather event in AusNet Electricity Services Pty Ltd’s (AusNet or we) history, causing damage to transmission towers and impacting around 25% of the distribution network.
Around 255,000 AusNet distribution customers lost power on 13 February 2024, with some customers experiencing prolonged outages of up to two weeks. AusNet customers were also unable to quickly and easily obtain information on their outages and expected restoration time, due to the failure of the AusNet Outage Tracker on the same day. Understandably this resulted in significant frustration and added to disruption caused by the storm event; an outcome we do not view as acceptable.
The Board of Directors supports the sentiment expressed by AusNet in apologising to its customers for the poor performance of its customer communications, including the Outage Tracker during the event.
Following the storms, AusNet commissioned an independent post incident review (PIR) of the storm response and an independent technical review of the Outage Tracker failure. AusNet also entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Essential Services Commission of Victoria, the details of which can be found here. AusNet is strongly committed to complying with its regulatory obligations, including the enforceable undertaking.
The 31 recommendations from the independent PIR and 41 recommendations from the independent technical review (Recommendations) have been shared with the Board of Directors.
In response, the Board of Directors passed a resolution confirming the organisation supports AusNet implementing the Recommendations, including the Recommendations that are the subject of the enforceable undertaking, as listed below.
The Recommendations are aligned with AusNet’s strategic direction to improve customer outcomes and reduce the impact of future extreme weather events on customers and communities, particularly as these events are expected to intensify in frequency and severity with climate change.
The Board of Directors will receive regular reporting about progress against the requirements of the enforceable undertaking, and more broadly, implementation of the Recommendations.
Remediation
AusNet has set up a $10 million Energy Resilience Community Fund to support local recovery efforts and energy resilience in communities, by:
- Providing relief payments to customers impacted by the storm-related power outages;
- Support existing community facilities used during and after extreme weather events; and
- Collaborating with small businesses on support programs and energy storage solutions to aid business continuity during future weather events.
This was extended to $12m in accordance with the Enforceable Undertaking. Further information about the ERCF is available here: Energy Resilience Community Fund (ausnetservices.com.au)
AusNet is also planning additional investment in community and network resilience against extreme weather events, as part of the 2026-31 Electricity Distribution Price Review (EDPR). These plans are currently under development through customer and community engagement and collaboration and will incorporate learnings from the February 2024 storms.
1A reference to “Board of Directors” or equivalent, is a reference to the Board of Directors of the ultimate Australian holding company of AusNet (Holding Company) and a reference to “organisation” is a reference to the Holding Company.
More information
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