ROBINVALE was left in the dark again last week with the second lot of power outages this month.
A Powercor spokesman told The Guardian equipment at a customer’s premises failed last Friday, causing changes to the voltage on the network before 9pm.
The spokesman said this resulted in a safety device kicking into action which shut off the power supply.
“These safety devices are installed on the network to protect customers and the network from damage during faults,” the spokesman said.
“Crews responded and restored power to about 478 customers in the Boundary Bend region within 20 minutes.”
The spokesman said as a result, Powercor changed the operation of their network to allow their customer to safely conduct repairs.
“This meant there was extra demand on this part of the network and this led to two further outages occurring,” the spokesman said.
“One outage occurred just before 10.45am on Saturday and power was back on just before midday.”
The outage impacted customers in Robinvale.
“Another occurred on Sunday, impacting power to customers in Boundary Bend for about four minutes,” the spokesman said.
“Crews have now repaired the damage and the network is now operating as normal.”
But, the spokesman said further power outs and damage to the network in Robinvale were caused by storms and lightnings.
The spokesman said the most power outs were were not linked to the faults that caused blackouts across Robinvale and surrounding areas earlier this month.
“They are also not related to large-scale renewable energy generation,” the spokesman said.
“We understand how frustrating these outages have been for customers and thank them for their patience as our crews responded, working safely and as quickly as possible to get power back on.”
Swan Hill Rural City Council Robinvale ward councillor and Bannerton resident Jade Benham said residents and businesses had no need to panic during power outs.
“We just need to take a breath and stay calm, it wasn’t hot on the weekend so no big deal,” she said.
“We can all survive for a little bit, yesterday when it went off and it was quite stormy, I figured it was lighting.”
Cr Benham suggested spending time outdoors during power outs.
“On days like that if the power goes off, go outside and do something different,” she said.
“Enjoy the weather and enjoy the river, and go and enjoy the things that are free in Robinvale.”
Cr Benham said her family were camping on Sunday, so hadn’t taken much notice of the power outs, however she was working when the power went out on Saturday.
“I think businesses and farmers that are watering at the moment have the right to be annoyed,” she said.
“But, regular retailer consumers worried about the power going out at home, we can survive for a little while, it’s perfectly fine when it’s not hot.
“When we get the continual days that’s when we should start panicking.”
Cr Benham said council had emergency plans they could put into action in the case of a full black out.
Meanwhile, earlier this month more than 2100 properties were left without power in Robinvale and Wemen.
A Powercor spokesperson said the area was affected by a series of faults including an outage at Wemen terminal station.
