WA blackout: 950 homes still in darkness as Western Power continues to repair damage to network from storms

The number of homes left without power following widespread blackouts triggered by bushfires and storms has fallen below 1000, with the vast majority of those in the Wheatbelt. In an update provided on Monday afternoon, Western Power said around 950 customers remained in darkness — with the largest outage in Wongan Hills where “significant bushfire recovery work” was ongoing. Around 60 homes in the Gingin area remained without electricity for an eighth consecutive day, with Western Power now predicting they will be back online by Wednesday. Across the Wheatbelt, 142 of 189 poles damaged by ferocious thunderstorms on Tuesday and Wednesday have now been replaced or repaired. “Five crews are continuing work on the Wongan Hills fire ground changing poles with the aim of restoring power today,” the statement said. “There were 46 poles down and 35 of these were completed as of yesterday, the rest is being worked on today “Work is continuing to repair the 400 conductors.” Western Power is also working to reconnect around 50 homes in the Perth Hills around Mt Helena, Gidgegannup, Stoneville and Mundaring. Work has also begun to repair the 220KV transmission line to Kalgoorlie, which was severed when five 50m tall steel towers were destroyed during last Wednesday’s storm. “Poles were transported to the site yesterday and work commenced to source specialist equipment needed. Initial construction exploration began yesterday and we expect rebuild work to take 7 or 8 days,” Western Power said. In the interim, the Goldfields are being supplied by a 132KV transmission cable rerouted from Northam, as well as a backup generator operated by Synergy and the privately-owned Parkeston Power Station that is ordinarily used to power mining operations.