Some customers in the Esperance district have been impacted by a number of power outages during the last three days. Horizon Power apologises for the inconvenience these power interruptions caused.
On Sunday, power to 1,300 customers supplied by the 115 kilometre high voltage powerline to Munglinup was interrupted at about 3 pm and power was restored within the hour.
Following a further outage at 8 pm, a line inspection was carried out and a large bird’s nest was found to be impacting the powerline. Horizon Power’s crew removed the nest and power was restored to most customers by 9:15 pm.
Horizon Power crews working near Munglinup on Monday discovered damaged infrastructure connected to the powerline which posed a serious danger and required immediate repair. To complete the work, power was disconnected to 100 residents in and near Munglinup for close to two hours. Full power was restored just before 6 pm on Monday night.
At approximately 5.30 pm on Monday an unknown fault caused a power outage for 146 customers supplied by the high voltage line between Hopetoun and Jerdacuttup.
Unknown causes of power outages are often birds or debris such as tree branches hitting the powerlines and causing them to clash.
A total fire ban was current for the area at the time of the Hopetoun outage. In these situations Horizon Power is required by legislation to conduct a visual inspection of the full powerline before determining if power restoration is safe.
A crew travelled from Horizon Power Esperance depot to conduct the inspection of the approximately 40 kilometres long powerline. No obvious interference was seen and power was restored at 12.30 am Tuesday morning.
Works Delivery Coordinator Camis Ware said investment over the past seven years into the local electricity network has significantly improved power reliability.
“We’ve completed a huge amount of work across the region and are very pleased that reliability has improved for our customers; however, nature and extreme weather events can still impact power supplies,” he said.
Horizon Power appreciates the patience of impacted residents while inspections are completed and works are undertaken to restore power supplies.
Contact Reference: Horizon Power media line - Phone: 1800 799 745