NSW’s Blackout Hotspots Revealed – Causes and Impacts

November 29, 2024

Hunters Hill leads the list with an average of 1,290 customers interrupted per outage, followed by Lake Macquarie (834), Lane Cove (769), Ryde (754), and Central Coast (753).
Residents in the Lower North Shore face the longest disruptions, averaging 364 minutes, followed by Waverley (246 minutes), Mosman (234 minutes), Sydney (232 minutes), and Upper Hunter (224 minutes).
Lower North Shore (0.619), Hunters Hill (0.520), Port Stephens (0.460), Cessnock (0.424), and Lake Macquarie (0.417) have the highest impact scores.
The primary reasons for disruptions are equipment faults (796 incidents), environmental factors (707 incidents), and third-party activities (128 incidents).
Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, and Ryde are hotspots where multiple causes converge, resulting in higher cumulative impacts on households and businesses.

Electricity powers daily life in the homes and businesses of New South Wales. Yet when lights unexpectedly dim and appliances fall silent, communities grapple with the disruptive reality of power outages. This report investigates the data for 34 Local Government Areas across NSW and unveils the blackspots where outages strike most frequently and linger longest.

Drawing upon April 2023–March 2024 outage data from Ausgrid—Australia’s largest electricity distributor on the east coast—this analysis exposes patterns in the average number of customers interrupted and the duration of disruptions. Beyond the statistics, it illuminates the root causes: environmental factors like fierce storms and lightning, equipment malfunctions, third-party impacts such as accidental cable digs, operational errors, vandalism, and issues originating from customer installations.

Understanding these factors proves pivotal for residents, policymakers, and stakeholders committed to ameliorating the resilience of the electrical grid. By spotlighting the areas most affected and the reasons behind outages, this report seeks to inform and empower those invested in fortifying NSW’s electrical infrastructure against future blackouts.

NSW LGAs Ranked

By Average Power Outage Duration

Electricity disruptions across New South Wales reveal pronounced disparities among Local Government Areas. In Hunters Hill, each outage affects an average of 1,290 customers, yet power typically returns after 126 minutes, a relatively swift restoration compared to other regions.

In stark contrast, Lower North Shore grapples with the longest average outage duration, enduring 364 minutes (over six hours) per event, while impacting 365 customers. This prolonged downtime suggests unique challenges in this area, perhaps linked to complex infrastructure.

Intense service interruptions also occur in densely populated areas like Lake Macquarie and Lane Cove, where 834 and 769 consumers are affected per event, respectively. However, the duration of these power losses varies, with Lake Macquarie experiencing an average of 168 minutes without electricity, and Lane Cove averaging 116 minutes. This data hints at a correlation between population density and number of people impacted, though length of service interruptions doesn’t always correspond to the number of individuals affected.

An intriguing pattern surfaces when examining LGAs with lengthy outages but fewer people experiencing them. Areas such as Mosman and Upper Hunter endure power cuts lasting 234 minutes and 224 minutes on average, yet these events impact only 77 and 340 residents, respectively. Such discrepancies may reflect challenges specific to less densely populated or remote regions, including extended response times due to distance and accessibility of the grid.

Even major urban centres are not immune to extended power interruptions. Sydney experiences average downtimes of 232 minutes, affecting 452 customers per event. Similarly, Cumberland faces power losses lasting 201 minutes on average, impacting 632 consumers. These figures highlight that metropolitan areas, despite advanced electrical systems, can still be susceptible to massive disruptions.

Geographic Trends and Insights from Impact Scores

Geography reveals compelling insights into power outage patterns across New South Wales, especially when evaluating impact scores that balance average customer interruptions (ACI) and average power outage duration (APOD). Key findings emerge across urban hubs, coastal regions, and rural locales.

Urban Suburbs with High Impact Scores

Lower North Shore ranks highest with an impact score of 0.619, driven by the state’s longest average outage duration of 364 minutes despite fewer customer interruptions (365).
Hunters Hill follows closely with a score of 0.520, where 1,290 customers are interrupted per event, but outages last a shorter 126 minutes, reflecting dense urban infrastructure.
Sydney CBD and surrounding areas, such as Randwick (0.345) and Georges River (0.385), report high scores. While Sydney averages 232 minutes per outage with 452 customers affected, suburbs like Randwick and Georges River highlight both substantial interruption durations and moderately high customer impacts.

Coastal Regions with Elevated Impact Scores

Port Stephens leads the coastal regions with a score of 0.460, averaging 700 interruptions and 217 minutes of downtime. Coastal exposure likely amplifies vulnerability to environmental factors.
Lake Macquarie (0.417) and Central Coast (0.339) reflect similar patterns. While Lake Macquarie sees 834 customers affected, its outages are shorter at 168 minutes compared to Central Coast’s 146 minutes.

Suburban and Semi-Rural LGAs with Moderate Impacts

Ryde (0.336) and Northern Beaches (0.318) experience notable interruptions across multiple causes. Ryde averages 754 customers interrupted, while Northern Beaches records 662 interruptions, with outages lasting around 154 minutes.
Ku-ring-gai (0.306) and Hornsby (0.351) showcase moderate scores. Although fewer customers are impacted, outages persist over 172 minutes, underscoring infrastructure challenges in these suburban areas.

Rural and Remote Areas with Prolonged Disruptions

Upper Hunter (0.326) and Singleton (0.308) highlight rural challenges with extended outages, averaging 224 minutes and 217 minutes, respectively. However, fewer customers—340 in Upper Hunter and 330 in Singleton—are affected, indicating infrastructure delays in isolated regions.
Cessnock (0.424) exemplifies rural high-impact zones, where 738 customers are affected, with outages lasting 191 minutes.

Eastern Suburbs with Prolonged Durations but Lower Impact Scores

Waverley (0.302) and Mosman (0.238) endure some of the state’s longest disruptions, averaging 246 minutes and 234 minutes, respectively. Yet, smaller populations—175 in Waverley and 77 in Mosman—result in lower overall impact scores.
Lane Cove, though urban, ranks lower with a score of 0.285 despite 769 customer interruptions due to shorter durations of 116 minutes.

Key Geographic Patterns

Urban Density Drives Customer Impacts: LGAs with dense populations, like Hunters Hill and Lower North Shore, report major interruptions but not always the longest durations.
Coastal Vulnerabilities: Coastal LGAs such as Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie display high scores due to environmental exposure, including storms and salt corrosion.
Rural Response Delays: Remote areas like Upper Hunter and Cessnock face protracted outages despite affecting fewer customers, revealing challenges in maintenance and repair times.
Infrastructure Variability: Contrasts between neighbouring LGAs, such as Lower North Shore and Mosman, suggest uneven grid robustness and upkeep standards.

Examining Power Outage Causes Across NSW LGAs

Mitigating their impact of power outages demands an understanding of their causes. This section looks into the reasons behind electrical disruptions in New South Wales Local Government Areas and analyses trends based on the average number of customers affected and the typical duration of outages. Ausgrid identifies eight primary causes, each contributing uniquely to the challenges faced by the electrical grid.

Environmental Factors: Natural elements such as severe weather conditions—storms, floods, high winds—interfere with power lines and infrastructure, leading to widespread outages.
Equipment Faults: Failures within transformers, switches, or other electrical components result in service interruptions, often requiring technical repairs or replacements.
Third-Party: Actions by external suppliers, including maintenance work or operational errors, can inadvertently disrupt the power supply to consumers.
Operating Faults: Mistakes or malfunctions during the operation of the grid, such as incorrect settings or procedural errors, cause unintended outages.
Lightning: Strikes from lightning directly impact power lines or equipment, causing immediate and sometimes extensive service disruptions.
Vandalism: Deliberate damage inflicted on electrical infrastructure—such as cutting lines or damaging substations—leads to unexpected outages and poses safety risks.
Cable Digs: Accidental severing of underground cables during excavation or construction projects interrupts the flow of electricity to affected areas.
Customer Installation Issues: Problems originating from consumer-owned equipment or improper installations contribute to localised outages, affecting individual or small groups of customers.

Environmental Factors

High Customer Impact in Urban Areas

Bayside leads with an average of 1,206 customers interrupted, enduring outages lasting 144 minutes.
Cessnock follows with 996 customers affected, with outages persisting for 184 minutes.
Northern Beaches experiences interruptions impacting 736 customers, with shorter durations averaging 120 minutes.

Extended Outages in Less Populated Regions

South Sydney endures the longest average outage duration at 400 minutes, affecting 130 customers. Prolonged downtimes suggest challenges unique to this area, possibly due to infrastructure issues.
Upper Hunter faces outages lasting 322 minutes on average, impacting 358 customers. Extended durations hint at potential delays in restoration efforts in rural settings.
St George experiences blackouts averaging 303 minutes, affecting 87 customers.

Moderate Impact with Varied Durations

Hornsby sees an average of 645 customers interrupted, with outages lasting 148 minutes.
Central Coast has 583 customers affected, enduring blackouts for 166 minutes.
Port Stephens impacts 491 customers, but with a longer average duration of 225 minutes.

Shortest Outage Durations

Lane Cove enjoys the shortest average outage duration at 89 minutes, affecting 230 customers.
Scone also has relatively brief outages lasting 92 minutes, impacting 190 customers.
Newcastle experiences interruptions for 105 minutes, with 387 customers affected.

Key Insights

Urban Centers with High Customer Impact: Densely populated LGAs like Bayside and Cessnock report the highest average number of customers interrupted, emphasising need for robust infrastructure in metropolitan areas.
Rural Areas with Extended Durations: Regions such as South Sydney and Upper Hunter face much longer outages despite fewer customers affected, indicating possible logistical challenges in restoring power promptly.
Variation in Outage Durations: Disparities in outage durations across LGAs suggest differences in infrastructure resilience and response effectiveness. For instance, Port Stephens experiences longer outages compared to Northern Beaches, despite both being coastal regions.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: Some LGAs with high customer interruptions have shorter outages, while others with fewer customers experience longer blackouts.

Equipment Faults

High Customer Impact in Urban Centres

Lane Cove tops the list with an average of 1,503 customers interrupted, enduring outages lasting 117 minutes. This substantial figure reflects dense populations and possibly ageing infrastructure in urban areas.
Lake Macquarie follows closely, affecting 1,306 customers per outage, with an average duration of 158 minutes.
Hunters Hill experiences interruptions impacting 1,222 customers, yet boasts the shortest outage duration among the top LGAs at 41 minutes. Quick restoration times here may indicate efficient response mechanisms.

Extended Outages in Specific Regions

Lower North Shore endures the longest average outage duration at 528 minutes, affecting 767 customers. Such prolonged downtimes suggest unique challenges in this area, potentially due to complex infrastructure or accessibility issues.
Woollahra and Mosman also face lengthy outages, averaging 363 minutes and 336 minutes respectively, while impacting fewer customers (167 and 78). These extended durations might be attributed to localised infrastructure constraints.
Singleton experiences blackouts lasting 290 minutes, affecting 315 customers, indicating potential delays in restoration efforts.

Moderate Impact with Varied Durations

Cumberland sees an average of 922 customers interrupted, with outages persisting for 195 minutes.
Georges River affects 824 customers, enduring blackouts for 226 minutes.
Ku-ring-gai impacts 753 customers, but has a shorter average duration of 80 minutes, suggesting efficient outage management.

Shortest Outage Durations

Hunters Hill boasts the shortest average outage duration at 41 minutes, despite a high number of customers affected.
Ku-ring-gai and St George also have relatively brief outages lasting 80 minutes and 100 minutes, impacting 753 and 624 customers respectively.
South Sydney experiences interruptions for 115 minutes, with 439 customers affected.

Key Insights

Urban Centres with High Customer Impact: Densely populated LGAs like Lane Cove and Lake Macquarie report the highest average number of customers interrupted, emphasising need for robust infrastructure and proactive maintenance in metropolitan areas.
Prolonged Outages in Certain Areas: Regions such as Lower North Shore and Woollahra face much longer outages, indicating challenges in infrastructure resilience or emergency response effectiveness.
Efficiency in Restoration: Some LGAs like Hunters Hill manage to restore power swiftly despite high customer impact, highlighting effective outage management practices.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: Variations exist where some areas with high customer interruptions have shorter outages, while others with fewer customers experience longer blackouts.

Third-Party

High Customer Impact with Moderate Durations

Port Stephens stands out, with an average of 1,402 customers interrupted, enduring outages lasting 135 minutes. This substantial impact suggests that disruptions here affect a large population, possibly due to critical infrastructure dependencies.
Central Coast follows, affecting 653 customers per outage, with an average duration of 215 minutes. The longer restoration time indicates complexities in addressing supplier-related issues in this region.

Extended Outages in Urban Centres

Sydney experiences the longest average outage duration at 542 minutes, affecting 80 customers. Although fewer individuals are impacted, the extended downtime suggests considerable challenges in resolving these disruptions within the urban infrastructure.
Ryde faces blackouts lasting 416 minutes on average, interrupting service for 336 customers. The combination of high customer impact and prolonged duration underscores the need for efficient coordination with third-party suppliers in this area.

Moderate Impact with Varied Durations

Newcastle affects 189 customers, with outages persisting for 345 minutes. Lengthy durations hint at potential logistical challenges in restoration efforts.
Lower North Shore sees interruptions impacting 145 customers, enduring outages of 329 minutes on average.
Ku-ring-gai experiences outages lasting 315 minutes, affecting 84 customers. Extended downtimes here may reflect complexities in supplier networks or infrastructure.

Shortest Outage Durations

Sutherland enjoys the shortest average outage duration at 109 minutes, affecting 91 customers. Efficient restoration practices may contribute to quicker recovery times in this LGA.
Georges River and Woollahra also have relatively brief outages lasting 125 minutes and 126 minutes, impacting 314 and 89 customers respectively.

Key Insights

High Impact Areas: LGAs like Port Stephens and Central Coast report the highest average number of customers interrupted, emphasising the importance of robust contingency planning in these regions.
Extended Durations in Certain LGAs: Urban centres such as Sydney and Ryde face significantly longer outages, indicating potential complexities in urban infrastructure and the need for improved collaboration with third-party suppliers.
Variation in Outage Durations: Disparities across LGAs suggest differences in response effectiveness and infrastructure resilience. For instance, Sutherland manages to restore power more swiftly compared to other regions.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: Some LGAs with high customer interruptions have moderate outage durations, while others with fewer customers experience prolonged blackouts.

Operating Faults

High Customer Impact with Short Durations

Ryde experiences an average of 8,724 customers interrupted, with outages lasting a mere 24 minutes. Such a high number of affected individuals suggests that operating faults here disrupt large portions of the grid, but swift restoration efforts keep downtime minimal.
Hunters Hill follows, impacting 2,568 customers per outage, with an even shorter average duration of 16 minutes. Rapid recovery times indicate efficient response mechanisms mitigating the effects of these faults.

Moderate Customer Impact with Varying Durations

Singleton sees interruptions affecting 974 customers, enduring outages for 88 minutes. Longer restoration times compared to Ryde and Hunters Hill may point to differences in infrastructure or response strategies.
Muswellbrook affects 871 customers, but enjoys the shortest average outage duration at 8 minutes. Quick recovery highlights effective management of operating faults in this region.
Northern Beaches experiences outages impacting 679 customers, with an average duration of 83 minutes.

Extended Outages with Fewer Customers Affected

Ku-ring-gai endures the longest average outage duration at 282 minutes, yet only 53 customers are interrupted. Prolonged downtimes affecting a small number may indicate localised issues that are complex to resolve.
Hornsby faces blackouts lasting 194 minutes, affecting 450 customers. Extended durations here suggest challenges in restoring service promptly.
Georges River experiences outages of 165 minutes, impacting 68 customers.

Shortest Outage Durations

Muswellbrook boasts the shortest average outage duration at 8 minutes, despite affecting 871 customers.
Hunters Hill and Ryde also have brief outages lasting 16 minutes and 24 minutes, impacting 2,568 and 8,724 customers respectively.

Key Insights

High Impact Areas with Rapid Recovery: LGAs like Ryde and Hunters Hill report the highest average number of customers interrupted but maintain short outage durations, highlighting efficient fault management and swift restoration processes.
Prolonged Outages in Certain LGAs: Regions such as Ku-ring-gai and Hornsby face much longer outages, despite fewer customers being affected. This pattern suggests complex issues in specific parts of the network that require more time to address.
Variation in Outage Durations: Disparities across LGAs indicate differences in infrastructure resilience and response effectiveness. For instance, Muswellbrook achieves quick restoration times, while Northern Beaches experiences longer downtimes.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: Some areas with high customer interruptions have short outages, while others with fewer customers endure prolonged blackouts.

Lightning

High Customer Impact with Short Durations

Northern Beaches experiences the highest average number of customers interrupted due to lightning, with 6,787 customers affected per outage. Despite this substantial impact, outages here last an average of only 68 minutes, indicating efficient restoration efforts in this region.
Canterbury Bankstown follows, with 2,335 customers impacted per outage, enduring average durations of 140 minutes. This suggests that while many residents are affected, restoration takes longer compared to Northern Beaches.
Hornsby sees 2,004 customers interrupted per outage, with blackouts lasting around 157 minutes on average.

Moderate Customer Impact with Varied Durations

Lane Cove has an average of 1,595 customers affected per outage, with relatively brief durations averaging 66 minutes.
Cessnock experiences outages impacting 1,441 customers, with an average duration of 131 minutes.
Newcastle and Maitland both have over 1,200 customers affected per outage, with durations of 178 minutes and 113 minutes respectively.

Low Customer Impact with Extended Durations

Port Stephens stands out with the longest average outage duration of 360 minutes, yet it affects only 61 customers per outage. This prolonged downtime suggests challenges in restoration efforts in this LGA, possibly due to infrastructure limitations or geographical factors.
Ku-ring-gai endures outages lasting 266 minutes on average, impacting 822 customers.
Singleton experiences blackouts of 199 minutes, affecting 127 customers.

Shortest Outage Durations

Sutherland enjoys the shortest average outage duration at 57 minutes, despite affecting 1,234 customers per outage. Efficient restoration practices may contribute to quicker recovery times in this area.
Lane Cove and Northern Beaches also have relatively brief outages, lasting 66 minutes and 68 minutes respectively, while impacting 1,595 and 6,787 customers.

Key Insights

High Impact Areas with Efficient Recovery: LGAs like Northern Beaches and Sutherland report high numbers of customers interrupted but maintain short outage durations, highlighting effective response strategies against lightning-induced disruptions.
Extended Outages in Certain Regions: Areas such as Port Stephens and Ku-ring-gai face much longer outages, indicating potential challenges in infrastructure resilience or difficulties in accessing affected sites for repairs.
Variation in Outage Durations Across LGAs: Disparities suggest differences in preparedness and response capabilities. For instance, Canterbury Bankstown and Hornsby experience longer outages compared to Lane Cove, despite all having high customer impacts.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: Some LGAs with a high number of customers affected have short outage durations, while others with fewer customers experience prolonged blackouts.

Vandalism

High Customer Impact with Varied Durations

Newcastle experiences the highest average number of customers interrupted due to vandalism, with 1,046 customers affected per incident. Outages here last an average of 62 minutes, indicating efficient restoration efforts despite the substantial impact.
Waverley follows, affecting 398 customers per outage but endures the longest average outage duration of 600 minutes. This prolonged downtime suggests significant challenges in addressing vandalism-related damages within this area.

Moderate Impact with Short Durations

Lake Macquarie sees an average of 156 customers interrupted, with outages lasting 64 minutes. The relatively brief duration hints at effective response mechanisms mitigating the effects of vandalism.
Port Stephens affects 123 customers per incident, experiencing outages with an average duration of 34 minutes, the shortest among the LGAs analysed. Swift restoration efforts here minimise the impact on residents.

Lower Impact and Rapid Recovery

Maitland reports 81 customers interrupted on average, with outages lasting 112 minutes. While the number of affected customers is lower, the duration is moderately extended compared to other regions.
Cessnock has the lowest average number of customers interrupted due to vandalism, with 54 customers affected per incident. Outages here are resolved swiftly, lasting just 16 minutes, the briefest duration recorded.

Key Insights

Significant Disparities in Outage Durations: Waverley stands out with an exceptionally long average outage duration of 600 minutes, despite affecting fewer customers than Newcastle. This indicates potential complexities in repairing vandalism-induced damages or challenges in accessing affected infrastructure.
Efficiency in Restoration Efforts: LGAs like Port Stephens and Cessnock demonstrate rapid recovery times, with outages lasting 34 minutes and 16 minutes respectively. Effective strategies in these areas reduce the impact of vandalism on the power supply.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: While Newcastle has the highest number of customers affected, the outage duration is relatively short. Conversely, Waverley affects fewer customers but endures much longer outages.
Need for Enhanced Security Measures: The substantial impact of vandalism on power outages, especially in areas like Waverley and Newcastle, underscores the necessity for improved security and preventive measures to safeguard electrical infrastructure.

Cable Dig

High Customer Impact with Moderate Durations

Newcastle experiences the highest average number of customers interrupted due to cable digs, with 1,793 customers affected per incident. Outages here last an average of 108 minutes, indicating efficient restoration efforts despite the substantial impact.
Cumberland follows, affecting 1,611 customers per outage, with an average duration of 141 minutes. The longer restoration time suggests complexities in repairing underground infrastructure in this region.
Inner West sees 1,569 customers interrupted on average, with outages lasting 77 minutes, the shortest duration among the top high-impact LGAs.
Lake Macquarie impacts 1,525 customers per incident, with outages averaging 80 minutes in duration.

Extended Outages in Specific Areas

Lower North Shore endures the longest average outage duration at 477 minutes, affecting 632 customers per incident. Such prolonged downtimes suggest heavy challenges in accessing and repairing underground cables in this area.
Sydney experiences outages lasting 341 minutes on average, impacting 787 customers. The extended duration indicates potential complexities within the urban infrastructure when addressing cable dig-related damages.
Bayside faces outages with an average duration of 345 minutes, affecting 72 customers. Although fewer customers are impacted, the lengthy restoration time highlights challenges in resolving these incidents promptly.

Moderate Impact with Varied Durations

Willoughby reports 281 customers interrupted per outage, with the shortest average duration of 37 minutes. Efficient response efforts contribute to rapid restoration in this LGA.
Muswellbrook experiences outages affecting 62 customers, lasting 240 minutes on average. The extended duration may reflect challenges in accessing remote or less densely populated areas.
Woollahra and Randwick have similar numbers of customers affected—60 and 58 respectively—but differ in outage durations, with Woollahra averaging 103 minutes and Randwick 243 minutes.

Key Insights

Significant Disparities in Outage Durations: LGAs like Lower North Shore and Bayside endure exceptionally long average outage durations, indicating potential difficulties in repairing underground cables in densely populated or urbanised areas.
High Impact Areas with Efficient Recovery: Despite high numbers of customers affected, regions such as Newcastle and Inner West manage to restore power relatively quickly, suggesting effective emergency response protocols.
Challenges in Urban Centers: Extended outage durations in Sydney highlight the complexities of addressing cable dig incidents within metropolitan infrastructure.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: Some LGAs with a high number of customers affected experience shorter outages, while others with fewer customers endure prolonged downtimes.

Customer Installation

Highest Customer Impact with Moderate Durations

Inner West experiences the highest average number of customers interrupted due to customer installation issues, affecting 122 customers per incident. Outages here last an average of 136 minutes, indicating a moderate restoration time.
Waverley follows, impacting 101 customers per outage, with a shorter average duration of 80 minutes. Swift recovery efforts contribute to minimising the impact on residents.

Extended Outages with Fewer Customers Affected

Bayside endures the longest average outage duration at 318 minutes, affecting 58 customers per incident. The prolonged downtime suggests considerable challenges in resolving customer installation issues within this area.
Lower North Shore experiences outages lasting 249 minutes on average, impacting 95 customers. Extended durations here may reflect complexities in addressing installation problems in this LGA.

Moderate Impact with Varied Durations

Sydney sees 82 customers interrupted per outage, with a shorter duration of 80 minutes. Efficient response mechanisms may contribute to rapid restoration in the metropolitan area.
Northern Beaches affects 62 customers per incident, experiencing outages with an average duration of 149 minutes. The longer restoration time indicates potential challenges in resolving customer equipment issues promptly.

Key Insights

Significant Disparities in Outage Durations: LGAs like Bayside and Lower North Shore endure significantly longer outage durations compared to others, despite affecting fewer customers. This suggests that customer installation issues in these areas are more complex or require more time to resolve.
Efficiency in Restoration Efforts: Regions such as Waverley and Sydney demonstrate rapid recovery times, with outages lasting 80 minutes, despite affecting a moderate number of customers. Effective response strategies help minimise the impact of customer installation issues.
No Direct Correlation Between Customers Interrupted and Outage Duration: Some LGAs with a higher number of customers affected experience shorter outages, while others with fewer customers endure prolonged downtimes.
Need for Enhanced Customer Awareness: The impact of customer installation issues on power outages underscores the necessity for increased education and support for consumers regarding proper equipment maintenance and installation practices.

Overall Causal Insights

Causes with the Most Significant Impact

Environmental Causes

Bayside and Cessnock are heavily impacted by environmental factors, with average customer interruptions of 1,206 and 996 respectively.
Outage durations in these areas are substantial, averaging 144 minutes for Bayside and 184 minutes for Cessnock.

Equipment Failures

Lane Cove leads in customer interruptions due to equipment failures, affecting an average of 1,503 customers per incident.
Lake Macquarie and Hunters Hill also experience high impacts, with 1,306 and 1,222 customers affected respectively.
While Hunters Hill enjoys a swift average restoration time of 41 minutes, Lower North Shore endures prolonged outages lasting 528 minutes.

Lightning Strikes

Northern Beaches faces exceptional impact from lightning, with an average of 6,787 customers interrupted per event.
Canterbury Bankstown and Hornsby also suffer significant effects, impacting 2,335 and 2,004 customers on average.

Causes with Prolonged Durations

Operating Faults

Ryde stands out with a remarkable 8,724 customers affected per outage, yet the average duration is a brief 24 minutes.
In contrast, Ku-ring-gai experiences extended outages lasting 282 minutes, despite a lower customer impact of 53 individuals.

Cable Digs

Lower North Shore endures the longest outages due to cable digs, averaging 477 minutes and affecting 632 customers.
Sydney also faces lengthy disruptions, with outages lasting 341 minutes and impacting 787 customers.

Vandalism

Waverley suffers from extreme outage durations averaging 600 minutes, interrupting service for 398 customers.
Newcastle has the highest customer impact from vandalism, with 1,046 customers affected, but enjoys a shorter average outage duration of 62 minutes.

Notable Regional Patterns

Northern Beaches

Consistently appears across multiple causes with high customer impacts, notably from lightning (6,787 customers) and operating faults (679 customers).
Generally shorter outage durations suggest efficient restoration efforts in this region.

Lake Macquarie

Faces significant challenges across several causes, including equipment failures (1,306 customers) and cable digs (1,525 customers).
Also affected by environmental factors and vandalism, indicating a need for comprehensive infrastructure assessment.

Inner West

Experiences moderate to high impacts from various causes, such as cable digs (1,569 customers) and customer installation issues (122 customers).
Relatively short outage durations imply effective response protocols.

Top LGAs by Cause

Environmental Causes: Bayside (High customer impact: 1,206 customers; Moderate duration: 144 minutes).
Equipment Failures: Lane Cove (High customer impact: 1,503 customers; Moderate duration: 117 minutes).
Lightning: Northern Beaches (Exceptionally high impact: 6,787 customers; Short duration: 68 minutes).
Third-Party Supplier Activities: Port Stephens (High impact: 1,402 customers; Moderate duration: 135 minutes).
Operating Faults: Ryde (Extremely high impact: 8,724 customers; Short duration: 24 minutes).
Cable Digs: Newcastle (High impact: 1,793 customers; Moderate duration: 108 minutes).
Vandalism: Newcastle (High impact: 1,046 customers; Short duration: 62 minutes).

Recommendations

Targeted Infrastructure Improvements

Prioritise Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, and Ryde for infrastructure upgrades and preventive measures due to their high customer impacts across multiple causes.
Address prolonged restoration challenges in Waverley for vandalism-related outages and in Lower North Shore for cable dig incidents.

Enhanced Maintenance Plans

Develop specific maintenance strategies for Lake Macquarie and Newcastle, which demonstrate high impacts across various disruption types.

Incident-Specific Protocols

Implement lightning mitigation strategies in Northern Beaches and Lane Cove to reduce high customer impacts from lightning strikes.
Improve response times for vandalism incidents in Waverley to minimise extended outages.

Stakeholder Engagement

Educate local councils and communities in heavily affected LGAs about preventive measures and emergency preparedness.
Collaborate with third-party suppliers and construction firms to reduce cable dig incidents, especially in Sydney and Lower North Shore.

Quarterly Analysis of Power Outage Trends

April 2023 to June 2023

Temporal Patterns and Peak Periods

Between April and June 2023, numerous power outages disrupted various Local Government Areas (LGAs) in New South Wales. A notable concentration of incidents occurred in May, particularly from the 10th to the 21st, suggesting a possible link to seasonal factors or weather conditions during this timeframe.

Frequent Causes and Affected LGAs

Equipment Faults emerged as the predominant cause, accounting for a substantial portion of outages across multiple LGAs. Canterbury Bankstown experienced frequent incidents, with outages occurring almost weekly, impacting up to 1,693 customers in a single event on May 13th. Similarly, Central Coast faced numerous equipment-related disruptions, notably affecting over 8,038 customers on May 30th.

Environmental Factors influenced areas like Northern Beaches and Hornsby, where storms and adverse weather likely contributed to service interruptions. For instance, the Northern Beaches encountered a major environmental outage impacting 2,075 customers on June 12th.

Third-Party Interferences, such as cable digs and external supplier activities, led to prolonged outages in LGAs like Ryde and Lower North Shore. On May 22nd, Ryde experienced an outage lasting 1,043 minutes due to third-party causes, affecting 96 customers.

Time-of-Day Trends

Outages frequently occurred during daytime hours, particularly between 9 AM and 5 PM, coinciding with peak operational periods and reflecting increased demand on the grid. However, major incidents also took place during early morning hours, indicating that equipment faults are not confined to peak usage times.

Notable Observations

Ryde experienced an exceptionally high customer impact due to operating faults, with 2,568 customers affected on June 20th, albeit with a brief outage duration of 16 minutes.
Lake Macquarie faced an equipment fault on May 17th affecting a staggering 35,110 customers, though the outage lasted only 56 minutes, demonstrating efficient restoration efforts despite the large scale.
Lightning caused prolonged outages in Port Stephens, with an incident on May 26th lasting 360 minutes, although impacting only 61 customers.

Impact of Vandalism and Cable Digs

Vandalism led to significant disruptions in Waverley, where an outage on May 18th lasted 605 minutes, affecting 71 customers.

Cable Digs resulted in prolonged outages in Woollahra and Randwick, with incidents on May 30th and June 22nd lasting 114 minutes and 385 minutes respectively.

Seasonal and Weather-Related Trends

A high frequency of environmental outages occurred during April and May, possibly due to seasonal weather patterns such as increased rainfall or storms during autumn. LGAs like Central Coast and Sutherland witnessed multiple environmental incidents during these months.

July 2023 to September 2023

Seasonal Patterns and Peak Periods

Between July and September 2023, numerous power outages disrupted various Local Government Areas (LGAs) across New South Wales. A high concentration of incidents occurred during August, especially in mid-month, suggesting possible links to seasonal weather conditions, such as winter storms or increased rainfall during this period.

Frequent Causes and Affected LGAs

Equipment Faults emerged as the predominant cause, accounting for a substantial portion of outages across multiple LGAs. Central Coast experienced frequent incidents, with outages occurring almost weekly, impacting up to 3,258 customers in a single event on July 6th. Similarly, Canterbury Bankstown faced numerous equipment-related disruptions, notably affecting over 2,013 customers on August 18th.

Third-Party Interferences, such as cable digs and external supplier activities, led to prolonged outages in LGAs like Lower North Shore and Ryde. On August 21st, Ryde experienced an outage lasting 74 minutes due to third-party causes, affecting 1,097 customers.

Time-of-Day Trends

Notable Observations

Ryde experienced an exceptionally high customer impact due to operating faults, with 13,969 customers affected on August 14th, albeit with a brief outage duration of 28 minutes.

Lake Macquarie faced an equipment fault on August 15th affecting 867 customers, lasting 116 minutes, demonstrating challenges in restoration efforts despite the scale.

Lightning caused prolonged outages in Newcastle, with an incident on September 28th lasting 109 minutes, impacting 3,563 customers.

Impact of Vandalism and Cable Digs

Vandalism led to disruptions in Cessnock, where an outage on September 18th lasted 16 minutes, affecting 54 customers.

Cable Digs resulted in prolonged outages in Sydney and Willoughby, with incidents on July 17th and August 8th lasting 110 minutes and 37 minutes respectively.

Seasonal and Weather-Related Trends

A higher frequency of environmental outages occurred during August, possibly due to winter weather patterns such as storms or high winds. LGAs like Central Coast and Hornsby witnessed multiple environmental incidents during this month.

October 2023 to November 2023

Seasonal Patterns and Peak Periods

Environmental factors highly influenced outages during this period, likely due to spring and early summer weather conditions. Notably, a surge in incidents occurred in mid-December, possibly linked to increased thunderstorms and heat-related stresses on infrastructure.

Frequent Causes and Affected LGAs

Environmental Causes dominated many LGAs, particularly in the Central Coast, which experienced numerous outages affecting over 9,515 customers on December 14th. Canterbury Bankstown faced significant environmental disruptions, with an outage on October 16th impacting 1,639 customers for 400 minutes.

Equipment Faults remained a prevalent issue. Canterbury Bankstown witnessed frequent equipment-related outages, including an incident on October 6th affecting 2,287 customers. Similarly, the Northern Beaches faced substantial equipment faults, with a notable event on December 18th disrupting service for 2,068 customers for 201 minutes.

Lightning Strikes caused notable outages in Canterbury Bankstown, where an incident on December 27th affected 3,200 customers. Singleton and Newcastle also experienced lightning-induced disruptions, emphasising the need for lightning protection measures.

Third-Party Interferences, such as cable digs and unauthorised activities, led to prolonged outages in areas like Sydney and the Lower North Shore. A significant cable dig incident in Sydney on November 2nd resulted in an outage lasting 858 minutes, impacting 67 customers.

Time-of-Day Trends

Outages frequently occurred during afternoon and evening hours, between 2 PM and 8 PM, coinciding with peak electricity usage and possibly reflecting the grid’s vulnerability under high demand. However, several incidents also took place during early morning hours, indicating that equipment faults and environmental factors are not confined to peak times.

Notable Observations

Central Coast faced one of the most prolonged outages due to environmental causes on December 9th, affecting 1,827 customers for 991 minutes.
Hornsby experienced an environmental outage on October 15th impacting 1,985 customers for 161 minutes, suggesting severe weather conditions in that area.
Port Stephens dealt with an equipment fault on November 19th that lasted 2,017 minutes, affecting 688 customers, highlighting major restoration challenges.

Impact of Vandalism and Cable Digs

Vandalism led to disruptions in Maitland, with multiple incidents in October affecting services for durations up to 217 minutes.

Cable Digs resulted in extensive outages in Sydney and the Lower North Shore. The incident in Sydney on October 31st affected 1,700 customers for 56 minutes, while in the Lower North Shore, a cable dig on November 4th impacted 736 customers for 95 minutes.

Seasonal and Weather-Related Trends

A spike in environmental outages occurred during late November and December, likely due to the storm season in NSW. Thunderstorms, high winds, and lightning contributed to the increased number of outages, particularly in LGAs like Canterbury Bankstown, Central Coast, and the Northern Beaches.

January 2024 to March 2024

Seasonal Patterns and Peak Periods

High temperatures and summer storms during these months likely contributed to the increased number of environmental and equipment faults. Notably, mid-February witnessed a surge in incidents, suggesting a correlation with extreme weather events characteristic of late summer.

Frequent Causes and Affected LGAs

Equipment Faults remained a predominant cause of disruptions. Canterbury Bankstown experienced significant outages due to equipment issues, with a major incident on March 6th affecting 2,808 customers for 101 minutes. Similarly, the Northern Beaches faced substantial equipment-related outages, including one on February 8th impacting 3,095 customers.

Environmental Factors played a crucial role, particularly in LGAs like Hornsby and the Central Coast. On February 19th, Hornsby suffered an environmental outage affecting 1,524 customers for 88 minutes, coinciding with severe weather conditions.

Lightning Strikes caused notable disruptions, especially on February 19th, where the Northern Beaches saw 13,321 customers without power due to lightning for 85 minutes. This underscores the vulnerability of the grid to natural phenomena during storm seasons.

Third-Party Interferences, such as cable digs and unauthorised activities, led to massive outages in areas like the Inner West and Lake Macquarie. On February 2nd, a cable dig in Lake Macquarie resulted in an outage affecting 1,525 customers for 80 minutes.

Time-of-Day Trends

Outages frequently occurred during afternoon and early evening hours, between 2 PM and 8 PM, aligning with peak electricity usage and strain on infrastructure. However, numerous incidents also took place during early morning hours, indicating that equipment faults and environmental factors can impact the grid at any time.

Notable Observations

Inner West experienced a major equipment fault on January 24th, affecting 15,819 customers for 111 minutes, highlighting substantial challenges in urban grid management.
Lake Macquarie faced a major equipment fault on March 14th, impacting 8,260 customers for 82 minutes, emphasising the need for infrastructure resilience in that area.
Canterbury Bankstown had multiple equipment faults on February 29th, with several incidents occurring on the same day, suggesting possible systemic issues.

Impact of Vandalism and Cable Digs

Vandalism led to disruptions in Port Stephens and Waverley. On March 6th, vandalism in Port Stephens caused an outage affecting 105 customers for 35 minutes. Similarly, Waverley experienced a vandalism-induced outage on March 3rd, impacting 398 customers for 600 minutes.

Cable Digs resulted in prolonged outages in Randwick and the Inner West. On February 29th, a cable dig in Randwick led to an outage affecting 55 customers for 100 minutes.

Seasonal and Weather-Related Trends

The summer months of January to March are characterised by high temperatures, bushfire risks, and severe thunderstorms in NSW. The data reflects this, with increased environmental and lightning-related outages during this period. LGAs like the Northern Beaches, Hornsby, and the Central Coast were notably affected, indicating that these areas may be more susceptible to weather-related disruptions.

Methodology

PSS Distributors sourced quarterly outage records, spanning April 2023 to March 2024, from Ausgrid. Localities listed within the datasets were matched to LGAs to create a structured lens through which disruptions could be dissected. A systematic sorting of entries by LGAs enabled clear insights into geographic patterns. From there, two critical metrics emerged: the average number of customers impacted and the mean duration of interruptions—calculated after parsing raw figures using Excel’s capabilities.

To compute the Impact Score, a calculated metric balancing average customer impact (ACI) and average power outage duration (APOD), PSS Distributors employed a normalisation process to ensure consistency across diverse datasets and facilitate meaningful comparisons between Local Government Areas (LGAs). The first step was converting raw ACI and APOD values into normalised scores on a scale of 0 to 1 so as to allow disparate scales—total customer interruptions and outage durations—to align for balanced analysis. Assigning equal weightage to both ACI and APOD ensured neither metric disproportionately influenced the results. The final Impact Score for each LGA was then calculated as the average of the normalised values.

Probing into root causes, the frequency of outage triggers—whether environmental events, equipment issues, or third-party incidents—was quantified through Excel’s Find All feature. This granular approach revealed underlying trends that helped shape a broader understanding of outage dynamics.

References

Contact Us

PSS has distributed Uninterruptible Power Supplies for 30 years and offers a broad range suitable for every application. Call us at 1300 882 447 or e-mail [email protected] to find the right solution for your needs.