Understanding power faults and outages
Why does the power sometimes go out?
Whether you need to get your work done, get dinner on the table or take time to catch up on your favourite series, electricity is something all of us rely on. At Horizon Power, it’s our job to keep your power supply as reliable and safe as possible.
We do everything we can to keep the power on – but sometimes planned power interruptions and unplanned power outages will happen.
Watch this short video to learn some of the reasons behind Horizon Power outages.
Your guide to planned power interruptions
Sometimes, we need to turn the power off to your home or business so our team can work safely on maintenance, repairs or upgrades to parts of the network. When we know in advance and can let you know, this is known as a planned power outage.
Sometimes, we need to cancel a planned outage because of extreme weather or other network priorities such as damage inspection after a storm. We’ll try to let you know if that’s the case.
Your guide to unplanned power outages
Unexpected power outages can happen because of damage to electrical infrastructure such as our poles and wires, extreme weather, vandalism, falling trees or branches, animals or other objects coming into contact with power poles or wires, and emergency situations.
If your power goes out unexpectedly, visit the outage finder on our website or download the Horizon Power mobile app to get the most up-to-date information. This will include an estimated power restoration time.
You can also phone our 24-hour Horizon Power fault line on 13 23 51.
Our network covers millions of square kilometres – and sometimes our team need to travel to different locations to inspect and repair damage to electrical assets. This can take time, especially during extreme weather events when there might be delays or restrictions getting to the areas we need to visit. This is why restoring power to some regional areas can take longer than others.
Behind the scenes: Our power restoration process
Our first priority in any power outage is safety. When we respond to any notifications of faults and outages, the first step is to make sure the site is safe for our crews and for the community.
We’ll then check the damage and prioritise the order of repairs. We want to restore power to the highest number of customers as soon as possible, and, of course, our essential health and community services.
Once the issue has been repaired, this is the usual order of our power restoration process (and some of these can happen at the same time):
Essential services
First, we’ll restore power to emergency services and critical community services such as our hospitals, police, ambulance, fire brigade and water treatment facilities.
High voltage lines
Our bulk transmission lines supply power to many customers across a large area, so getting these back on allows us to help a lot of people at the same time.
Localised faults
These faults impact clusters of homes and businesses, such as powerlines in local streets, so these are next to be restored.
Individual homes and businesses
When network repairs are completed, we’ll then work on the service lines which connect power to individual homes and businesses.
How is your power restoration time calculated?
In an unplanned outage, we work hard to work out the issue as quickly as possible so we can update you with the most accurate information. As soon as we can, we’ll share an estimated power restoration time on our website and mobile app.
We know it’s frustrating when the power goes out unexpectedly, especially if your power restoration time changes or isn’t specific enough.
It can be hard to estimate a restoration time for a town or suburb when the power might be restored for different customers at different times. Sometimes, a number of powerlines can be impacted by an outage but these might not be interconnected. For example, sometimes some customers will have their power back before other houses or business on the same street or in the same neighbourhood. If your power has gone out, we appreciate your patience and want you to know that our teams are always doing their best to get your power back on.
Depending on the cause of the outage and number of faults affecting the network at that time, the power can come back to individual homes and businesses at different times.
What to do when the power goes out
Whether you’re preparing for a planned outage or experiencing an unexpected outage, there are plenty of things you can do before, during and after a power outage.
Learn more about WA's energy supply, explore these articles
📣 Attention Derby residents 📣 There’s a planned power outage next week for essential network maintenance. * Saturday 23 November, between 8 am - 10 am * Streets affected: Benning Place, Heseltine Court and Panton Street, Derby. Report any faults or emergencies 24/7 - 13 23 51 👉 Stay up to date with estimated restoration times:
🌟 Community Support in Action! 🌟 We're thrilled to share how our community grants have made a significant impact on the local volunteer ambulance service in Exmouth, Coral Bay, and surrounding areas. Thanks to a $5000 partnership from Horizon Power’s community partnerships program, St John WA has completed essential communications upgrades to ambulances in the Gascoyne region.
Horizon Power acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Western Australia and their continuing connection to the land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all members of the Aboriginal communities and their cultures; and to Elders past, present and emerging.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased people.