Essential Energy crews completed maintenance on the electricity network supplying Tenterfield’s central business district and surrounding area on Sunday, causing some inconvenience for business owners and households but the electricity supplier said it was unavoidable in order to improve power reliability for the local community.
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Regional manager Northern Mark Summers said the maintenance works had been identified as part of Essential Energy’s cyclical asset inspection program.
“The maintenance was undertaken to address potential weaknesses in the power network prior to them causing problems such as unplanned power outages,” Mark said.
To allow crews to safely access the network, a planned power outage was required on the Sunday between 9am and 3.30pm. The 169 households and businesses affected were notified in advance.
“We scheduled the maintenance work on Sunday to reduce the impact of the planned power outage on Tenterfield’s central business district and wider community,” Mark said.
“Additional crews and equipment were also brought in from Glen Innes to assist our Tenterfield team to complete the project as quickly as safety allowed.”
The maintenance included replacing a complex multi powerline power pole on the corner of Miles and Logan streets and network equipment including cross-arms and insulators.
“We appreciate the upgrade works may have been inconvenient for some local households and businesses and thank customers for their patience while we worked to ensure Tenterfield’s power network remains safe and reliable,” Mark said.
Around 600 households and businesses in Tenterfield also experienced an unplanned power outage at 9.05am on Sunday morning after the power network automatically switched itself off after sensing a problem.
“Power was restored to those customers affected by the unplanned power outage in less than 10 minutes,” Mark said.