You have probably heard terms planned outage, unplanned
outage, blackouts, and load shedding, regularly used during summer. But, did
you know there are key differences to how they occur and are managed? To learn
more about why you might be experiencing a power outage at certain periods,
check out our easy-to-understand explainers below.
Planned outages
These outages are prearranged to undertake routine
maintenance, make repairs and to safely inspect electricity infrastructure,
including generation plant, right through to the transmission and distribution
powerlines to homes and business.
Often, planned outages of generators or high voltage
transmission wires can occur without consumers losing power as a large part of
the network is built with contingency (that means one line can be under
maintenance, while another keeps your power flowing).
Planned outages at the local level will be managed by your local power
distributor, who will usually notify you in advance if work has been
scheduled.
Unplanned outage or fault
On the other hand, an unplanned outage or fault is an
unscheduled interruption to electricity assets (generation units, electricity
transmission or distribution assets).
At a distribution network level, unplanned outages may
result in a loss of supply to individual homes or businesses, or to certain
areas, and it is what most of us experience when the ‘lights go out’.
This can occur as a result of various things, including damaged
powerlines or poles due to lighting strikes, falling trees, motor accidents,
bushfires, or general equipment failure.
Restoration of power to your home in these events will also
be managed by
your local distributor.
Load shedding
Another commonly misused term is load shedding
This action is the controlled shutdown of electricity supply to parts of the
power system, to help protect critical infrastructure from long-term damage,
and help prevent the failure of the wider power system.
Load shedding is used as an absolute last resort, and once
the system is secure again, electricity is restored as quickly and safely as
possible to the impacted areas.