When demand for electricity exceeds available supply, sometimes energy distributors make the difficult decision to cut off power to some areas to prevent the whole energy system from going down. This is called load shedding and we\u2019re breaking down exactly how it works.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Load shedding is a last resort measure that distributors enact to balance supply and demand of electricity across the National Electricity Market<\/a> (the NEM). When there\u2019s not enough power supply to meet the demand of electricity within the country, or states, the grid may become unstable. Instability poses a number of risks including damage to essential equipment within the grid and large rolling blackouts affecting a large amount of households. Though load shedding is a last resort it may be necessary due to a number of factors including: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Distributors<\/a> do their best to minimise impacts on sensitive sites like hospitals and nursing homes where people depend on electricity for their safety. If you have a condition which requires you to have Life Support equipment<\/a>, in the event you\u2019re affected by load shedding, it\u2019s recommended you enact your back-up plan or go to the nearest hospital to ensure your safety. If load shedding is enacted and you\u2019ll be affected, you may receive an SMS alert from your local distributor<\/a>. We recommend checking their website to see whether they have an SMS alert service you can sign up for, as well as making sure your contact details are up to date on your Origin account<\/a>. If you experience a medical emergency dial Triple Zero (000) immediately and ask for an ambulance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The amount of time power will be off for varies depending on the situation. If load shedding is required \u2013 which can happen with very short notice for the distributors – for more than two hours, distributors<\/a> may rotate the blackouts to lessen the impact on one specific group of customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Distributors<\/a> usually update outage maps on their websites to advise restoration times, so it\u2019s best to keep an eye on these to ensure you receive updates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n No one suburb or area is specifically selected for load shedding. Instead, distributors usually spread the disruption across their network. As mentioned earlier, best endeavours are made to avoid interrupting sensitive loads like major hospitals and public transport where the loss of power presents a serious risk to public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On particularly hot days, when there\u2019s a publicised threat to energy security, to try and help avoid load shedding households should turn off non-essential appliances such as pool pumps, clothes dryers, washing machines and dishwashers or delay their usage until later in the evening when demand has died down. If using the air conditioner, set your temperature to 24\u00b0C<\/a>, keep windows closed and close curtains\/blinds to keep the sun out. It\u2019s also important to keep yourself, and your pets<\/a>, well hydrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To avoid the risk of instability, the Australian Energy Market Operator<\/a> (AEMO) \u2013 who is responsible for maintaining the reliability and security of the NEM \u2013 makes the decision on how much electricity consumption needs to be reduced and distributors determine how their portion of the load will be shed<\/a> across their network to help balance demand.
It\u2019s important to note that AEMO<\/a> is the only body that can direct distributors to load shed. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy does load shedding happen?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
When load shedding is necessary, distributors<\/a> usually \u2018share the load\u2019 by scheduling blackouts that \u2018roll\u2019 across various suburbs or points of the grid to minimise the impact on one specific area. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWill my power be turned off?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your local distributor<\/a> is your best point of contact in an outage, our distributor directory can help you find yours. Distributors<\/a> generally update their websites regularly, so these are a great first-point for updates.
Distributors<\/a> can\u2019t exclude individual households from load shedding, so if you have medical equipment<\/a> at home which requires electricity to operate, it\u2019s important to act on your back-up plan which should include suitable alternative arrangements for the times you are without power. <\/p>\n\n\n\nHow long will I lose power for?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How do they select which areas to load shed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What do I do if I’m affected?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n