Extended outage
As soon as power has been restored, customers who've experienced an outage longer than 12 hours can apply for an extended outage payment.
$80 service standard payment for extended power outages
We administer the State Government’s $80 extended outage payment, which is a one-off payment of $80 per any unplanned outage that lasts longer than 12 consecutive hours.
The payment is an acknowledgement of the inconvenience for customers who have experienced a long unplanned outage while waiting for repairs to be completed and restoration of power to occur. Payment of successful claims will be made to your nominated account within 30 days.
This payment is available to electricity account holders who:
- are connected to the Western Power grid
- use less than 50 megawatt hours of electricity a year, which is nearly all houses and most small businesses
- experience a network power outage lasting 12 continuous hours or more
- had at least 12 hours pass between when we were notified of the power outage and power was restored
- have made the claim within 60 days of the date power was restored
- did not cause the power outage
- had a power outage that was not the result of an emergency action by police, fire or emergency services
- did not request the power outage
- have not previously been paid under the scheme for the same outage at the same address
- have not been affected by a retailer disconnection
Please note: Account holders will not be eligible for payment if the power outage is caused by the account holder or any equipment or assets (including privately owned electrical installations) at the property of the account holder.
Customers who receive bills from a strata management or other similar shared groups, and not from an energy provider, are eligible for an extended outages payment if the loss of power is network related.
When submitting a claim, you will need to select submeter at the top of the application and attach a photo or scanned copy of the account you receive from the Strata Manager for your power usage.
Please make sure you have your bank account details on hand before making a claim.
Power outage FAQs
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How do I prepare for a planned power outage?
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Why does it sometimes take longer to restore my power during summer?
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Who responds to streetlight outages?
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How does Western Power prioritise power restoration work?
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Why is it taking so long to restore my power?
If you’re a life support equipment customer
We will contact you by phone to confirm you have received a notification about the planned power outage. If you don’t want to receive a follow up phone call, please let us know by our contact form or call us on 13 10 87 to opt out of this service.
If you require your life support equipment during the outage, please make sure you have enough back up supply or are able to make alternate arrangements. If you have any concerns or require assistance, please call us on 13 10 87.
Handy tips for how to prepare for a power outage
Cordless phones, including NBN... Read more
Our role is to provide safe and reliable electricity to our customers. During the bushfire season, we make changes to the way we operate in high and extreme fire risk areas.
Our systems that remotely and automatically restore power are altered during the hotter months to reduce the chance of a spark causing a fire. Occasionally, the process of automatically restoring power can add to the risks of fire. In high and extreme fire areas it is safer to physically check lines before power is restored after an interruption to make sure there are no branches or foreign objects touching the powerlines.... Read more
Western Power installs and maintains streetlights on behalf of most local governments. Local government is responsible for the location, brightness and the number of streetlights in their area.
Main Roads WA installs and maintains freeway and main arterial road lighting. Main Roads WA can be contacted at www.mainroads.wa.gov.au or on 13 81 38.
Seen a faulty streetlight? Report it through our interactive reporting tool.
If your electricity supply is interrupted, we work as safely and quickly as possible to restore power. Our emergency response teams work 24 hours a day seven days a week to fix faults on the network.
When restoring power, our guidelines determine the order of repairs so the greatest number of customer connections can be repaired as soon as possible.
When the network is damaged, our first action is to make the site safe for our crews and for the community, and then to assess the damage. Once we complete the repairs, we restore power using the following priority list:
If you see fallen powerlines... Read more
When the network is damaged, our first action is to make the site safe for our crews and for the community and then to assess the damage.
Our crews prioritise work focusing first on rebuilding the major lines that connect the most customers to the network.
After the major lines that form the backbone of the network have been repaired, crews work on the smaller lines and then on individual customer lines.
Major storms or lightning strikes often damage several sets of powerlines over a widespread area.
Ground and/or helicopter patrols must visually inspect lines before power is restored, to ensure... Read more