Power outage FAQs

Every connection to the national electricity market is given its own unique NMI (National Metering Identifier). The NMI is used to identify your supply address. You should record your NMI on your Life Support Action Plan in the event that you need to contact us to report a power outage. You can find your NMI on your electricity bill.

You can sign-up to receive SMS alerts about power outages at your property and we’ll text you when a widespread power outage is impacting your property, the estimated restoration time of the power outage, and when the power has been restored. 

 

Most powerlines are protected by devices called breakers and reclosers and they work in a similar way to your home’s circuit breakers. They'll cut off power when they detect an ongoing fault (like a fallen powerline).

These devices also detect momentary faults, like when vegetation falls on a powerline. The device detects this and turns off the power supply. If the vegetation falls clear of the line, the power will turn back on. When this happens, there’s a momentary loss of power (typically less than a few seconds) to customers on that circuit.

TasNetworks does not provide or pay for generators during planned outages, and this extends to both life support and business customers.

If you need to hire a generator to maintain your supply, it would be at your own expense. You will need to organise the hire, transport, installation, connection and disconnection of the generator. Your electrical contractor can help you find a supplier, or you can check the ‘Generators’ section in the Yellow Pages.

If your business needs a constant power supply, we recommend installing an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system. Electrical contractors can advise you on alternative supply options such as UPS or standby generators. Reach out to your electrical contractor to discuss the best option for you.

For your safety, your solar inverter will automatically cut out during a power outage on the grid your system is connected to.

Check to ensure your solar inverter turns back on after planned or unplanned power outages as not all solar inverters will switch back on automatically after an outage.

You won’t be able to use your landline phone if it is plugged into an NBN modem and there’s a power outage. All types of landline phones (cordless phones, as well as older style un-powered corded phones) will not work during a power outage. This is because the NBN requires power at both the exchange and within the home to operate.

Your electronic equipment (such as modems, cordless phones, TVs and Wi-Fi routers) connected over the NBN will need separate battery backup to work in a power outage. Even with battery back-up, power outages may last longer than the battery life and you should be prepared to be without landline internet and telephone services for a period of time. You should talk to your equipment provider about whether your device will work when connected to the NBN and what alternative solutions are available if it doesn’t.

TasNetworks’ primary role is to provide a safe and reliable electricity network to the Tasmanian community. In doing so, we may sometimes need to turn off the power for maintenance and upgrades to keep the network running smoothly. Whenever planned outages are scheduled, you can expect that we’ll give you at least 4 business day’s notice of the planned outage date and time.

Please visit our prepare for a power outage page for more information.

Whenever planned outages are scheduled we’ll give you at least 4 business days’ written notice so you can make alternative arrangements. Affected customers will be notified via mail and SMS for those who have a mobile number listed with their retailer. In the event of an emergency, we may not be able to give you adequate notice.

Call us on 132 004 or view our current power outages for information on current planned outages.

We're required to advise all customers about planned power outages. If you believe you weren't notified please call us on 1300 137 008 or send us an enquiry.

Compensation is not provided if we’ve notified you of the planned outage. If you believe you weren’t notified please call us on 1300 137 008 or send us an enquiry.

We may have to cancel planned power outages due to unexpected events, such as severe weather.

We try to let our customers know as soon as possible of any cancelled planned power outages. However, when planned power outages are cancelled due to severe weather and other network emergencies we can't always get this message out in time.

Although we're committed to providing reliable power to our customers, 24 hours a day, unexpected events can cause the power to go out. These can include:

• Storms or high winds causing powerlines to clash
• Trees or foliage touching or falling onto powerlines
• Lightning 
• Electrical faults
• Bushfires
• Vehicle accidents, like a car hitting a power pole
• Wildlife

When a power outage happens, we work to restore power as safely and as quickly as possible.

If you’re dependent on a continuous supply of power, consider installing an uninterruptible power supply device. Your electrician should be able to advise on the most suitable option for a continuous supply of power during times of power outages.

During storms, restoration works are scheduled in order of priority:

• Safety first: for our crew and the public
• Essential services: restore power to public safety facilities where possible, such as hospitals, nursing homes, police stations and fire stations
• Proximity to source of power (See more below)
• Extent of the damage: number of customers affected
• Business vs residential: which has the greatest impact?

After storms, power is restored in a sequential manner. Faults closest to the source of power (usually a substation) must be fixed first. Unfortunately, this means customers further away from the substation experience longer outages. This is often the case in rural areas.

Weather conditions, safety and access

In some instances during severe weather conditions, it's not safe for our crews to work. Powerline repairs may take longer as crews may need to rely on other services (emergency services, tree trimmers and road clearing crews) before they can start restoration.

The following conditions and safety issues can delay restoration efforts:

• Heavy rain, flooding and snowy conditions can impact access to power infrastructure
• Crews are not allowed to work up power poles if there is lightning (as lightning strikes the highest point)
• Crews cannot work up power poles or on elevated work platforms in strong winds
• Our crews can't work in an active fire zone

Crew fatigue

Our crews can only work up to 16 hours in a 24-hour period. Crews also have to manage fatigue with meal breaks and driving breaks. 

You can sign-up to receive SMS alerts about power outages at your property and we’ll text you when a widespread power outage is impacting your property, the estimated restoration time of the power outage, and when the power has been restored.

Please visit our prepare for a power outage page for more information.

Our systems help us identify when large numbers of customers are without power, but it doesn't tell us where individual outages occur. It also doesn’t tell us why the power’s out. Your call to us on 132 004 can provide us with more detailed information about the power outage. You can also report your power outage online.

In some cases, our crews may need to patrol a long section of powerlines to identify the cause. The information you provide us helps us narrow the patrol area and can assist in restoring power sooner.

When a power outage happens, we work to restore power as safely and as quickly as possible. Our crews don’t know how long a job will take to repair until they are on site and assess the cause and damage.

It's difficult to accurately predict when a particular customer's power will be restored – especially in the early stages of restoration, when the extent of damage is being assessed. Once assessed, we provide an approximate restoration time on our current power outages page and via SMS to those customer that are subscribed to SMS services.

You may be entitled to a Guaranteed Service Level (GSL) Scheme payment from us if your power supply doesn't meet certain supply standards. These payments are made automatically; you don't need to do a thing. Find out more about our power supply guarantee.

You may be eligible for compensation for loss or damage following an unplanned power outage. If you’ve experienced loss or damage following an unplanned power outage you can make a claim for compensation. However, please keep in mind events that are outside of our control, such as severe weather, accidents, third party damage and vandalism are not subject to compensation.