Essential Energy is about to undertake major upgrade and maintenance works to the high voltage electricity network that supplies power to Tullamore, Tottenham, Albert and the surrounding area of Trundle.

To enable the work to be completed safely, a planned power outage will affect 843 customers in Tottenham, Tullamore, Albert and surrounding areas, and parts of Trundle, on Thursday, 23 September 2021, between 9am and 5pm and affected homes and businesses will receive Essential Energy’s standard outage notification.

The Trundle township will not be affected by this planned power outage.

Operations Manager Central, Bronwyn Sigmund, said the works would replace electricity network assets which had reached end of life and ensure the electricity network remains safe and reliable.

“These works will see the replacement of 20 power poles and 20 pole crossarms, and the installation of a new gas switch and regulator which will provide more efficient high voltage safety switching capabilities,” she explained.

Currently, in the event of a major unplanned outage on the main powerline supplying the area, power supply needs to be switched manually to a secondary supply to restore power.

“This new equipment means that power can be restored remotely, improving restoration times for customers,” Bronwyn stated.

“Significant planning has been undertaken to minimise the inconvenience of the outage, including bringing in crews from nearby depots to assist our Parkes crews to complete the work as quickly and safely as possible.

“All crews will comply with Essential Energy’s operational protocols to ensure employee, contractor and community safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, including complying with all social distancing requirements.”

The scheduled works are reliant on suitable weather conditions and may be postponed if the conditions are unfavourable or any unforeseen circumstances arise.

“We appreciate that planned power outages may cause inconvenience for some customers, and we thank them for their understanding and patience as we work to secure the power network for their local community,” Bronwyn said.