What to do

if the lights
go out
What to do if the lights go out
There are many ways that the power
supply can be interrupted to homes
and businesses.
While we regularly inspect and maintain the electricity
network to ensure you enjoy a reliable supply, there will
be occasions when owing to circumstances beyond
Country Energy’s control, the supply may be interrupted
to your installation.
This brochure explains why your supply may be interrupted
and what steps you can take to identify the cause and
arrange for restoration of the power supply. We also offer
advice on what you can do to help us pinpoint a problem
when the power does go out.
Some of the lights and appliances in
your home lose power.
What may have happened?
A circuit may be overloaded or a faulty appliance or
wiring has caused a safety switch or circuit breaker to
trip (in older homes, a fuse to blow). ‘Circuit breakers’
are designed to trip if they detect an overload or fault
in your wiring or appliances.
What can you do?
Firstly, switch off and unplug all appliances. Check your
switchboard and reset the circuit breaker if tripped or renew
the blown fuse. If you are not confident to complete this
task then call a licensed electricial contractor to assist.
Reconnect and switch on appliances one by one.
What went wrong?
Simple overload – Too many appliances were being used
on the one circuit at the same time (e.g. a large appliance
such as a heater plus a hair dryer and toaster). If you are
experiencing overloading problems with a circuit where
multiple appliances are used at the same time, you may
need to contact a licensed electrical contractor to install
additional power circuits.
2 3
Faulty appliance – If the circuit breaker trips again while
reconnecting appliances, you have most likely located the
faulty equipment. Faulty appliances will need to be repaired
by a qualified repairer or replaced.
Faulty wiring – If you have disconnected all your appliances
and the circuit breaker cannot be reset, there may be a
fault in the fixed wiring or equipment. You will need to
contact a licensed electrical contractor to identify the
problem and make the necessary repairs.
All of the lights and appliances in your
home lose power.
What may have happened?
There could be a number of reasons why the power is
not available. The problem could be with Country Energy’s
network or may be with your wiring or appliances and
therefore a process of elimination should be followed
to identify the source of the problem.
What can you do?
Overload – There may be too many appliances being used
at the one time, an appliance may be faulty, or there may
be a problem with your wiring. Follow the same procedure
for “Some of the lights and appliances in your home lose
power” (see page 2).
If you have checked your switchboard and everything
appears to be normal, call Country Energy on 13 20 80
to report the problem.
What to do if the lights go out
Other homes and streetlights lose power.
What may have happened?
Supply interruption – An overload or fault on the electricity
network has caused Country Energy protection equipment to
operate. Protection equipment may operate during a storm or if
part of the electricity network has been damaged. When this
happens, your electricity supply will be temporarily interrupted
to prevent any serious damage to the electricity network.
What can you do?
Calling Country Energy on 13 20 80 may help pinpoint the
problem more quickly, especially if you have any relevant
information regarding damage to the electricity network
such as wires down or a vehicle colliding with a pole.
Be prepared.
When you experience a supply interruption there are a few
things you can do to be better prepared:
Lighting – Keep one or two reliable torches with fresh
batteries in spots that are easy to access in your home.
Make sure everyone in the family knows where they are
and can find them in the dark.
Frozen food – Fridges and freezers are good insulators.
If you don’t open the doors, the frozen food can maintain
its temperature for up to 10 hours or longer depending
on how hot the weather is.
Back up supply – A small generator can supply power to
water pumps and other parts of the home, which can be
particularly useful in bushfire-prone areas. If the generator
is to be interconnected with your house wiring, it must be
installed by a licensed electrical contractor who will install
a change over switch to isolate your installation from the
power supply when the generator is in use.
4 5
Lights go dim – appliances may stop.
What may have happened?
Brownout – similar to a supply interruption but some houses
will have no supply, others will have very low voltage.
What can you do?
Follow the same procedure for “Other homes and street
lights lose power” (see page 4). Make sure you have one
or two torches ready and try not to open the door of the
fridge or freezer.
CHECK: Can you see if other houses or streetlights are
affected? If you have checked your switchboard and
everything looks normal, and no other houses or streetlights
are affected, call us on 13 20 80.
HINT: Switch off all appliances paying particular care to
switch off appliances containing motors (e.g. fridge, freezer,
pressure pump, air conditioners etc) as these appliances could
sustain damage if allowed to remain connected during
brownout conditions. Leave one light switched on so you’ll
know when the problem has been fixed. When the problem
has been rectified, don’t forget to make sure that all
appliances that were previously switched off are now
operating normally.
Lights go dim over time – heating
appliances go slow.
What may have happened?
Low supply voltage, usually caused by large additional
demands on the electricity network.
What can you do?
Contact Country Energy on 13 20 80 to report the problem.
Lights flicker.
What may have happened?
The power supply may have been disturbed. The cause
could be in your home, in neighbouring premises, or in
the electricity network.
What can you do?
Note when the problem occurs. Does it coincide with
anything, e.g. large appliances such as air conditioners
being switched on? Are your neighbours also affected?
What to do if the lights go out
Note: Where supply quality is an ongoing problem, Country
Country Energy should be contacted so that the matter
can be investigated. This will allow us to identify a solution
to the problem.
Protecting your appliances
Depending on the severity, lights flickering when appliances
start is a normal condition and causes no harm. However,
you may be concerned about the effects on sensitive
electronic equipment such as sound systems and
computers. A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is the
best protection for sensitive equipment. It has an internal
battery to maintain supply for up to 20 minutes, so you can
save your files and safely shut down your computer.
Lights suddenly dim, then recover.
What may have happened?
You may be experiencing temporary low supply voltage
caused by switching on large loads. This may be caused by
an appliance in your home, in which case you will notice the
lights go dim when the appliance is switched on. It could
also be in nearby premises or on the electricity network.
What can you do?
If the problem is in your home, you may need to contact
a licensed electrical contractor to investigate the matter
further and offer a solution. Otherwise, call Country Energy
on 13 20 80 to report the problem.
Restoring supply
Switch appliances off but leave at least one light on so you
know when supply has been restored. When the power is
back on, wait a few minutes before switching everything on
again. Resetting clocks and timers can be a nuisance but
many appliances now include battery backup. If yours do,
make sure you replace their batteries regularly.
Surge protection
Some people are concerned about power ‘surges’.
This term refers to a range of sudden voltage increases.
6 7
There are many different reasons why this may occur, such
as switching operations on the electricity network, lightning
strikes or as a result of a traffic accident. If you think your
installation is at risk, surge protection devices are available
and are relatively inexpensive. To protect the entire house,
a licensed electrical contractor can install one on your
switchboard. Alternatively, you can buy various portable
devices suitable for protecting individual plug in appliances.
Rural Installations
Across Country Energy there are many differing supply
arrangements on rural properties. In some instances there
will be a main circuit breaker located in a central position
within a meterbox on a pole. In some circumstances these
circuit breakers will be the property of Country Energy while
in other installations they will be part of the customer’s
installation. If a main circuit breaker was identified as being
in a tripped position, generally speaking where the device is
in sound condition, it is a very simple operation to reset the
device. However, if the circuit breaker was damaged in any
way (could be through lightning strike to the overhead wires
or transformer) it could present a significant danger to
anyone attempting to reset the device.
Wherever there is a significant danger that resetting a
device could cause harm to the person carrying out
the operation, Country Energy should be contacted for
further instruction or for attendance by a Country Energy
service technician.
Installing an air conditioner or other
large electrical load.
What do you need to do?
If you are planning on connecting a new large load to the
electricity network, please ensure that your licensed electrical
contractor contacts Country Energy prior to the connection
being made. That way we can ensure there is enough energy
supply for all our customers. Country Energy has a process
in place where electrical contractors can make applications
to connect additional load to the electricity network. Where
called for, this process must be followed otherwise additional
connected equipment may not function correctly.
Keeping it safe
Customer on the
Service farm
Centres

Albury Goulburn Parkes

621 Dean Street 148 Auburn Street Cnr Church and
Armidale* Grafton Clarinda Streets
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Balranald Griffith 8 Buller Street
90 Market Street 310 Banna Avenue Queanbeyan
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Shop 7 102 Herbert Street City Link Plaza
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Hay
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Deniliquin unavailable.
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Street 113 East Street
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For more information please contact us on 13 23 56,

or visit www.countryenergy.com.au/safety