Power outages in the Territory can be caused at any time of the year by a range of factors.

What causes an outage?

We commonly see power outages caused by lightning, high winds, trees, damaged cables and equipment or debris falling onto powerlines. Bats, birds and snakes have all been known to cause disruptions.

If you see a life-threatening or dangerous situation such as a powerline on the ground or a cable being dug up, call 000 or the Power and Water emergency line on 1800 245 090 immediately.

In this video, Wayne, Senior System Controller, explains what may cause a power outage and what you should do in a dangerous situation.

What happens next?

Once a fault or outage has been reported our crews will respond.

Safety, environment and weather conditions, accessibility to damaged areas and the time of day are among the many factors that affect how long it takes to restore your services.

Powerlines stretch for hundreds of kilometres, particularly in rural areas from Darwin or Alice Springs. So, finding the cause of an outage can take time as crews may need to patrol the line or carry out fault testing until they locate the problem.

After a cyclone, storm or flood restoration priority is given to facilities that are essential to community health and welfare, including hospitals, nursing homes, evacuation centres, communication facilities and emergency services.

If you’re experiencing an outage, follow these steps:

If you see our crew or approved contractors in your street, they’re already looking for or repairing faults. Please don’t attempt to stop a Power and Water vehicle to report an outage.

In this video, Jack explains what to do if you are experiencing a power interruption.

How we deal with major outages and emergency events

Providing essential power, water and sewerage services to Territorians means that we must be prepared, able to respond to and recover quickly from an emergency event. To achieve this, Power and Water follows an event management and recovery plan. We have crews on stand by around the clock and operate a 24 hour call centre.

Find out what else we do to prepare for emergencies and how we respond to an emergency event.