New connections

• If you’re a customer who relies on essential medical equipment, please activate your back-up plan immediately. If you are not currently registered for life support and you require power for the use of vital medical devices, please call 131 003 to begin the registration process
• Some of the trucks used to repair electricity infrastructure are large and we may be forced to park across driveways to safely complete the work required. Talk to our crew when they arrive on site if you need access to your vehicle, and they will work with you to find a suitable time to move
• Should there be bad weather, the job may be rescheduled to another date. We understand that this is difficult for customers have made alternative arrangements, but for safety reasons, our crew cannot work on live wires during heavy rain or very strong winds
• In rural areas, access to private property might be required for repairs, safety inspections or switching activities. Please give our staff access, as your power supply may not be interrupted, but access to a pole on your property may be required to restore power to other people's property
• If you have biodiversity risks associated with your property, please let us know by calling 131 003

If the work requires an overhead powerline upgrade, it usually takes us about a day to finish the work. For safety reasons, we must turn off the power to the poles and wires we're working on. We may also need to deliver the new pole a few days before we start the work. Don't worry though, we'll put it in a safe place on the footpath or nature strip and mark it clearly.

On the day of the upgrade, you'll see our team members and several of our trucks. We'll also have one or two elevated platforms for our team to work at heights, as well as a crane borer digging holes to install power poles.  

Please be aware that this could affect traffic and may even require us to close some narrow streets. After we finish, we may leave old poles on site because we need a special vehicle to remove them. We will be back to collect them within 3-5 business days.

Replacing underground cables usually takes 4-6 weeks, depending on the weather, but your power should only be off for 1 day during this time. We do the work in stages, with each being finished before we start the next.

Here's what to expect if we're replacing underground cables:

1. We'll dig trenches using small excavators to access and install new conduits (pipes) and expose the existing cables
2. We'll install temporary fencing, or fill the trenches with sand temporarily, to keep everyone safe
3. We'll remove the old cables and replace them with new ones. We may install new pillars to connect individual buildings to the network
4. We'll need to interrupt your power supply to connect your property to the new cables. We'll warn you before this happens
5. Once you're connected, we'll remove and dispose of any old, unnecessary pillars
6. We'll clean up and restore the area to how it was before we started

During this work, there may be some noise and dust, though we'll do our best to keep it to a minimum. We may need to store some equipment on footpaths and nature strips before installation and our work may limit access to street parking and footpaths. We'll always try to keep your driveway clear unless we've arranged something different with you. We may need to control traffic to ensure everyone is kept safe. If we're working in front of your property, please think about where you put your bins to ensure that your garbage service isn't disrupted.