State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland shared her dismay at the outages on Facebook.
“Another power outage and, like so many of you, it’s another costly fridge of food lost,” she said.
“I have written to the new CEO of @ausnet_ urging an immediate investigation into these outages and the development of a clear plan to rectify the issue.”
Ms Cleeland said that while she understood AusNet was a private entity, she was committed to addressing the issue in parliament.
“In the middle of last year, I wrote to the [Victorian] Energy Minister expressing concerns about the unreliable power and ongoing outages in the region, requesting an investigation,” she said.
“Despite a disappointing response, I will now bring this matter to the Consumer Affairs Minister as soon as Parliament resumes.
“It’s essential to highlight the lack of service delivery and ensure that our voices are heard at the highest levels.”
Ms Cleeland encouraged the public to directly email her about their experiences with power outages in the region to contribute to building a comprehensive understanding of the hardships faced by the community, ranging from financial burdens to health and safety concerns.
Meanwhile, AusNet spokesperson Karen Winsbury said the company was sorry about the number of outages in the past month.
“Since December, there have been four significant outages affecting the region, the majority of which were caused by extreme weather,” Ms Winsbury said.
“The outage on January 2 affected 2146 customers and was due to the significant storm activity in the area, with lightning and branches and trees bringing down powerlines and, in some cases, power poles.”
“The majority of customers were restored within 24 hours.”
Ms Winsbury said customers would be compensated for the inconvenience.
“The Essential Services Commission’s Electricity Distribution Code of Practice outlines the minimum service levels we must provide to our customers,” she said.
“As a result, customers will automatically receive a credit to their quarterly electricity bill if they experience unplanned, sustained outages for greater than 18 hours a year.”
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