Western Power crews are working around the clock to restore power to around 38,000 Western Australian homes and businesses after extreme weather conditions caused a series of pole top fires.
More than half of affected properties are now back online, and Western Power said its crews are working as quickly and as safely as possible to address the remaining 16,700 properties while making hazards safe and assessing poles for replacement.
The utility said its priority is attending to safety hazards before commencing any repairs and restoration. Following patrols to ensure it is safe to do so, teams will work to isolate damaged assets and restore power to customers where possible.
Western Power advised that outages may last for an extended period due to the number of faults across the network and the time required to replace damaged assets, with pole replacements in some instances taking up to eight hours.
The utility said it will continue to communicate with affected customers via SMS.
Western Power Executive Asset Operations, Zane Christmas, said work was continually underway to minimise the risk of pole top fires across the network to increase resilience.
“We appreciate the inconvenience and frustration outages can cause. Please be assured we are working as quickly as possible to safely restore power to customers,” he said.
“Pole top fires can occur during light drizzling rain or misty damp conditions when a combination of dust and pollution builds up to create paths or ‘tracks’ on the insulators. This tracking electricity can heat poles to a point where they smoulder and burn.
“Our network maintenance programs are constantly improving the way our assets are managed, including the 860,000 poles in the network. We have a comprehensive poles and wires maintenance program and a preventative program, which includes siliconing and washing, insulator replacements, managing trees and vegetation near wires, and high-pressure cleaning of insulators.
“This is particularly helpful in reducing the likelihood of pole top fires in farming and coastal areas where farming and salt pollution can build up.”
Mr Christmas said mitigation treatments were prioritised based on risk.
“We give priority to areas of increased risk such as those in extreme and high bushfire risk areas,” he said.
Western Power is continuing to explore new technologies and techniques to help reduce the risk of pole top fires and ensure safe and reliable power supply in the Western Power network.
Western Power urges anyone who sees a fallen power line or any other damage to stay eight metres away and call the emergency 24/7 number 13 13 51 so that emergency response crews can attend the hazard to make the area safe.
