Ausgrid postpones planned outages in Hunter ahead of heatwave conditions

Thursday, 7 December 2023

Ausgrid has postponed its work in Scone, Jerrys Plains and Sedgefield due to the forecast heatwave weather conditions 

In making the decision to halt this work for Friday, Ausgrid considered a range of factors including the customers affected, the safety of its crews and the nature of the work. 

Ausgrid Group Executive for Operations Sam Sofi said Ausgrid has emergency crews on standby ready to respond to any power outages. 

“As part of our standard planning for these very hot conditions, our operators review the network to ensure we’re ready to respond to any impacts of the extreme temperatures and any rise in demand for electricity,” Mr Sofi said.  

“Generally, the impact on the power network only increases after multiple, consecutive very hot days.” 

Ausgrid will continue to review all its planned work which requires power to be interrupted to customers. 

In places where temperatures are forecast to reach 40 degrees planned maintenance work is usually cancelled, except in cases where customers agree to the work going ahead. 

With upcoming heatwave conditions, Ausgrid is urging customers to prepare now for the higher temperatures. 

Ausgrid is advising customers using air conditioning to set it to the correct temperature and use the power save mode if available. 

“The optimum range for air conditioning is between 23 and 26 degrees and every degree of cooling below that can add up to 10% to your running costs,” Mr Sofi said. 

“You can also save by using fans.” 

Ausgrid customers can opt in for text message notifications to get up-to-date information about all work in their area or contact Ausgrid directly on 13 13 65.  
 
For more energy efficiency advice check out our energy saving tips.