Safety first
We identify any hazards and make them safe.
The Western Australian summer can be unforgiving. The combination of extreme heat, dry conditions and vast expanses mean that our community must work together to reduce the risk of bushfires that can spread and potentially cause damage. We all have a part to play.
That’s why every year we implement our bushfire mitigation strategy to reduce the risk of bushfire. This strategy includes a mix of smart network settings, proactive management of poles and wires in high/extreme bushfire zones and changing how we operate in response to fire restrictions.
Here are some of the actions we take to reduce the risk of bushfires.
Every year before bushfire season, our crews are hard at work preparing high and extreme bushfire risk zones to reduce the likelihood of a network-related spark that could cause a fire.
This includes:
Most faults on the electricity network are temporary, for example when a falling branch strikes a powerline and causes a momentary short circuit.
They only affect the network briefly and there is often no permanent damage. Our network is designed to automatically detect and isolate these faults. Even though attempting to re-energise the network may create a spark, in normal conditions the risk of starting a fire in doing so is very low.
During bushfire season, we modify settings that monitor the electricity network to make them more sensitive.
When there is a fault or other interference during this period, the more sensitive settings ensure that power is interrupted faster than usual and the power will remain off instead of being automatically restored.
This reduces the likelihood of starting a fire but results in more frequent outages that may last longer.
These changes have the greatest impact on customers in regional communities where electricity is supplied by powerlines that travel through high and extreme bushfire risk areas, often over long distances.
Our response during bushfire weather conditions
For everyone’s safety, we continue to operate more cautiously as bushfire weather escalates.
During bushfire season, there are a number of fire and movement warnings that we consider when assessing risk and impact our activities:
In the event of an outage during these conditions, you may be without power for an extended period of time, possibly until late in the evening.
Our FAQs provide some information on how you can prepare for an extended outage.
Our first priority is the safety of our crews, you and your community.
Here are some of the steps we take to repair and restore power after an incident.
We identify any hazards and make them safe.
This could include replacing conductors, poles or stringing new powerlines.
After assets are repaired, we will start restoring power where safe to do so.
If we can fix a fault that will connect 5,000 customers, we will do this first.
Need to prepare your own property for bushfire season? The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has developed resources for property owners to be bushfire ready.
For advice on how to prepare your property, daily updates of areas affected by fire restrictions and details on emergency situations, visit the Emergency WA website.
If you experience an outage lasting 12 continuous hours or more, you may be eligible for an $120 payment under the State Government's extended outage payment scheme.