Planned outages

We have a lot of infrastructure to maintain. We own almost 50,000 kilometres of powerlines that feed electricity to 668,000 properties across a 80,000 square kilometre area in Melbourne’s north, east and across eastern Victoria. In an average year:

• we maintain and upgrade our existing network of more than 417,000 power poles, which services over 750,000 customers
• we support communities by adding new powerlines and underground cables to our existing 52,000 kms of powerlines and cables
• we upgrade infrastructure to enhance and improve the reliability of our network
• we connect around 20,000 new customers to the grid and extend the network to support increased demand.

Why are there planned outages?

Planned outages allow our crews to do repairs, maintenance and other work that can’t be done safely while the power is on. This work is necessary to keep the electricity network safe, reliable and ready for future demand.

During a planned outage, we:

• replace poles, wires, or transformers that are aging or damaged
• inspect and maintain underground cables and equipment
• install new equipment to improve reliability or support growth
• connect new homes or businesses to the network
• clear vegetation near powerlines to reduce bushfire risk.

Before the outage, we notify impacted customers by letter or SMS and prepare the site for the work. If you prefer SMS updates about planned outages, call 1300 360 795. We get your phone and email details from your electricity retailer (the company that sends you your electricity bills).

On the outage day, we’ll safely isolate the power, complete the scheduled work and get the power back on once it's safe to do so.

How we schedule planned outages

Weekend outages

We always aim to avoid scheduling planned outages on weekends. However, urgent or high-risk work must be carried out as soon as possible. For example, if a dangerous powerline fault poses a safety risk or could lead to a larger unplanned outage, we may need to schedule work over the weekend. 

For schools and families, weekend outages can help avoid disruptions like arranging daycare, picking children up early from school, or managing remote learning. In industrial areas, weekend work can reduce the impact on weekday operations, helping businesses avoid costly downtime.

While weekend outages are not ideal, they can sometimes be the least disruptive option for the overall community. 

Work during the day

Planned outages are almost always scheduled during daytime hours because it’s safer and more efficient. Our crew can clearly see equipment and surroundings, which reduces the risk of errors or accidents. Daytime also allows for better coordination with traffic control, civil teams and vegetation crews, who usually operate during business hours.

Night work is avoided unless essential, such as in emergencies, or when daytime access isn’t possible due to traffic, safety or business operations.

Work year-round

Planned outages may be required at any time of year. This is because our electricity network operates 24/7 and seasonal conditions don’t change the need for critical upgrades or repairs.

We understand outages can be more challenging during extreme weather, so we aim to keep them as short as possible and provide advance notice to help you prepare.

How to stay updated

Outage Tracker

Outage Tracker shows the latest updates about any planned and unplanned outages in our electricity distribution network. This includes current outage locations, the status of each outage and the estimated time we might get the power back on. All you need to do is type the address into the search field.

Below are the four different planned outage stages you can see on Outage Tracker.