Residents in the Outram areas have had their mornings and evenings inconvenienced with a trio of rolling power cuts caused by a perfect storm of preparation for upgrades and damaged equipment.
Aurora Energy has now "apologised for the inconvenience" after residents in Outram and Allanton were plunged into darkness by three outages over Monday and yesterday — affecting thousands of customers.
An Allanton woman, who declined to be named, said one big problem with the rolling power cuts had been that it also meant many households — including hers — had no water as well.
"We are on tank water, so if there is a power cut, it is not only our power that goes out but also our water supply."
She said early risers had missed out on showers, and for her, it meant she had to figure out how to get her automatic garage door opened to get her car out for the morning commute.
Further frustration came when power then went out that night, and showers had to again be delayed, dishes had to remain unwashed and alarm clocks were reset.
In a press release, Aurora said Monday’s first outage was caused by a cracked insulator, and the outage later that evening was to replace it.
"Because of the short notice to replace the insulator, we couldn’t let affected customers know in time."
Yesterday, a truck crashing into a power pole plunged Outram into darkness from about 8am through to 5pm.
Usually in that case Aurora would be able to provide a back-up power supply. However, due to planned upgrades to the network, two of the three main lines were switched off.
The third, operating main line was the one with the faults, Aurora said.
"We know any power cut is inconvenient, no matter what caused it, and we thank customers for their patience."
The planned upgrades would be to the Waipori Line, which runs from Berwick to Halfway Bush.
It supplies electricity to more than 10,000 customers across Mosgiel, East Taieri, Outram and Berwick.
Residents could expect further days without power as the upgrades would be done on March 3 when new lines would be strung by helicopter.
"There are also a number of unrelated planned outages during the month for vegetation clearance, which affected customers have been notified of by their retailer."
Outram-Mosgiel Rd would have road closures and speed reductions in place next month due to the upgrades.
On March 3 and the following day, a single-lane closure will be in place between 8am and 5pm, with stop/go traffic management.
During either March 25 or 26, both lanes would remain open, but temporary speed restrictions would be in place while work was under way.
