Power outages are no doubt frustrating for customers when they occur. With terms like ‘blackout’, ‘planned outage’, and ‘unplanned outage’ often used interchangeably, it’s easy for confusion and misinformation to spread; especially in the context of the energy transition.

The ongoing development of myths about renewable energy generation can create some uncertainty, including the idea that renewable generation is a cause of outages, or that there simply ‘won’t be enough’ power when the wind isn’t blowing or the sun isn’t shining. In reality, renewable generation, like solar and wind, is integrated into the grid alongside other forms of traditional generation, including coal-fired, gas turbines, hydroelectric, and storage as part of the energy mix that makes up the National Electricity Market or the NEM.

Unplanned power outages can be caused by a variety of environmental and operational factors, including weather, vegetation, and wildlife interactions. These are unrelated to how electricity is generated and outages attributable to a lack of generation, sometimes referred to as load shedding, are extremely rare. There have been two load shedding events impacting customers of the Essential Energy network in the last five years, with the most recent being in October 2024 and a consequence of a maintenance-related event on the transmission network.

Is there a difference between a blackout and an outage?

No! Across all of our communications, we refer to planned and unplanned outages. We don't use the term ‘blackout’ but we understand it’s commonly used by customers to describe any loss of power.

What are planned and unplanned outages?

Planned outages occur when power is intentionally interrupted as a safety measure to allow for maintenance or upgrades to the electricity network or for safety reasons when vegetation management is required near the network. Customers are notified in advance via letter and SMS to help them prepare for current, future and cancelled planned outages.

This information can also be found on our outages page on our website, including the area affected, estimated number of customers affected, and estimated time of restoration.

Unplanned outages are unexpected interruptions. Our network spans diverse landscapes across regional, rural and remote New South Wales, from desert and coastal areas to alpine regions and dense hinterland. Because of the nature of this expansive footprint, regardless of how energy is generated, unplanned outages can occur due to a variety of environmental and operational factors, including weather, vegetation, and wildlife interactions.

We also publish live unplanned outage information on our website to keep customers informed. This includes the area affected, number of customers off supply, and estimated restoration time. When possible, we also endeavour to keep you updated in times of an unplanned outage via SMS.

What is a major event?

Some power outages are considered to be major events. These are typically the result of a significant weather event or natural disaster that results in an outage affecting a large number of customers for an extended period of time (usually over 5,000 customers for more than 4 hours). Restoration times during a major event can be hindered by the inability to access impacted locations, unsafe weather conditions, the need to clear a large volume of vegetation debris such as fallen trees and/or extensive damage to the network infrastructure. During these events, we provide regular updates to the media which are published on our website and on our social media channels, as well as send SMS updates directly to customers.

Where to go for information

If you’re experiencing a power outage or want to check the status of one in your area, visit our Outages page for live updates, including estimated restoration times and the number of customers affected. If you have questions or need further assistance, you can contact our customer service team on 132080. We’re here to help.