Gas, Water, Electricity or Phone Utility Outages

Gas, water, electricity or phone utility outages can occur at any time and can be caused by heatwaves, bushfires, storms, tree branches and car accidents. In addition, burrowing animals, construction work, and tree roots can damage underground cables and pipes.

You can help prevent utility outages by monitoring the size and health of trees. Tree branches can damage power and telephone lines and their roots can damage gas and water pipes. Contact a qualified tree clearing professional if the tree is on your property or the Council or your electricity distributor if the tree is in the street.

DO NOT attempt to remove or prune trees near powerlines yourself, even if they are on your property.

Always Dial Before You Dig to prevent damage to gas and water pipes or underground electrical and telecommunications cables when undertaking construction work.

If you receive a notification card, email or text message from your gas, electricity, water or telecommunications provider, the notification will tell you what is causing the outage and should provide you instructions on next steps.

For an unplanned outage, be prepared to evacuate the area if there is a gas leak, water mains burst or electrical emergency by developing a home or business emergency plan.

Businesses should prepare a business continuity plan for loss of business due to an outage.

For people using electrically powered life-support equipment or medical equipment, ask your doctor about emergency battery backup systems and registering the use of life-support equipment with your energy supplier.

During a Gas, Water, Electricity or Phone Outage

Electricity outage

Monitor the electrical outage and check when power will be restored. For people using electrically powered life-support equipment or medical equipment, activate your prepared emergency back-up plan.

CONTACTING YOUR UTILITY PROVIDER

Utility	Supplier	Customer Service	Emergency Notification
Electricity	United Energy	1300 131 689	132 099
Street Lights	United Energy	13 20 99	13 20 99

Note: Many NBN phone services require mains power to operate. Some systems will continue to operate with battery backup. You will need to discuss battery backup with your service provider to ensure continuity of service in a blackout.

Gas outage

For a notified gas outage during winter:

Prepare warm clothes and blankets if the temperature gets cold
Prepare electrical appliances to heat water for washing and cook food
Make arrangements to shower at a friend’s place or work or the local gym
Visit friends or go out to keep warm.

If you smell a gas leak in the street or on your property including around the gas meter, you should call the Gas Leaks and Emergency services on 1800 GAS LEAK (1800 427 532) to locate and repair the leak.

If however, you believe the leak to be after the meter on a section of pipe work connecting your appliances to the meter, or on the appliance itself, you should immediately turn off the gas at the mains and contact a gas plumber to repair the leak.

Utility	Supplier	Customer Service	Emergency Notification
Gas	Multinet	1300 887 501	132 691

Water outage or sewage blockage

For a planned water outage:

Fill some jugs or containers with extra water for drinking and/or cooking
Turn off all taps throughout your property, including laundry appliances, hot water service, water filters, air-conditioning units and outdoor sprinkling systems
Don’t use your washing machine, dishwasher or hot water service
Remove any wet washing from the washing machine and hang it to dry

For a water outage or sewer blockage:

Check for planned works in the area
Check for response times if your water has been turned off for emergency works
Make sure all of your water taps have been turned off including the water tap for the toilet cistern so there is no risk of flooding if the water comes back on when you are not around
Turn off your water supply at the water meter
If the issue is on your property, contact a licensed plumber to repair and test the leak or sewer blockage. Contact the Yarra Valley Water plumbing referral service on 1300 735 328 if required.
Businesses should activate their business continuity plan if required

Utility	Supplier	Customer Service	Emergency Notification
Water	Yarra Valley Water	1300 853 811	132 762

Telecommunications outage

Businesses should identify alternative telecommunications providers and methods and document in an emergency or business continuity. For example, using mobile internet if home or business internet fails or a mobile phone if the home or business landline connection fails or vice versa.

Should you experience repeated outages, consider contacting the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

Utility	Supplier	Customer Service	Emergency Notification
Telecommunications	Telstra	132 200	132 200 (Internet and home phone)
Telecommunications	Optus	133 937	131 344 (Internet and home phone
Telecommunications	Vodaphone	1300 650 410	1300 650 410

After a Gas, Water, Electricity or Phone Outage

After a gas, water, electricity or phone utility outage of any type, review your emergency and business continuity plans and make updates from lessons learned

After an electricity outage

Check all appliances that may have been left on, e.g. lights, heaters, stove, central heating units, etc
Assess your refrigerated and frozen food stocks
Reset equipment affected by power failure
If street lights remain affected by the power outage, contact United Energy
Check on your neighbours
If your power has been cut because of storm damage to your house, have a licensed electrician ensure it is safe before any other home repairs are carried out
Make sure refrigerated and frozen food is safe to eat. Always double check the temperature inside your refrigerator once the power goes back on. If you have any doubts about any item, it’s better to throw it out than to risk getting sick. As a general rule, for food that was refrigerated always follow the 2 hour - 4 hour rule:

If the power was out for less than 2 hours, it's okay to refrigerate or consume the food
If the power was out between 2 and 4 hours, the food is okay to consume but don't put it back in the refrigerator
If the power was out for more than 4 hours, discard the food
Some items such as peanut butter, sauces and vegetables will be safe even if the power was out for more than 4 hours. However, it's always better to be safe than sorry – throw it out
For frozen foods the rules are different. A freezer that is full to capacity will retain its temperature well enough to preserve food for two days. A half full freezer can only last about 24 hours.

Customers who experience long or frequent power outages in a year may be eligible for Guaranteed Service Level Payments. To find out about your eligibility, contact your local electricity distribution company or visit Australian Energy Regulator website or call 1300 302 502.

After a gas outage

After a water outage or sewage blockage

When the water has been turned back on:

Run the outside tap that is closest to your water meter for a few minutes. This will flush any natural sediment away and clear water that may look discoloured
Turn back on the taps you may have turned off before the water service was interrupted
Contact your insurance company if the leak or blockage on your property has caused damage to your property
If your water supply pressure is too high or too low or the water tastes, smells or appears different, contact Yarra Valley Water and report the issue.

After a telecommunications outage

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Gas, Water, Electricity or Phone Utility Outages

During a Gas, Water, Electricity or Phone Outage

After a Gas, Water, Electricity or Phone Outage

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