Home, AusNet logo

Load shedding

Load shedding means switching off supply to parts of the electricity network, to ensure safety.

Although load shedding is rare, all distribution companies use load shedding to help manage supply and demand in the electricity network.

What causes load shedding?

Load shedding happens when there is an imbalance in demand and supply.  This is usually caused by one of the following: 

  • Weather: strong winds, storms, bushfires or heat waves.
  • Generation: difficulty generating enough supply or unexpected loss of generation.
  • Asset damage: caused by a system fault or a significant weather event. This includes power poles, or network lines.

Types of load shedding

There are two main types of load shedding:

  • automatic load shedding – network equipment switches off to protect the network. This happens when there is a sudden disruption to the electricity network
  • manual load shedding – Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) directs us to load shed. This happens if demand passes maximum supply levels.

AEMO provides up to 30 minutes notice. This helps to restore the supply and demand balance.   

In some load shedding situations, power outages are shared across groups of customers. Customers are usually only off supply for a short amount of time. The outage is then shifted to a different area of the network.

What do you need to do?

While we don’t want any customers to be without power, we cannot guarantee there won’t be outages. 

We recommend being power prepared.