The September spring clean is also the perfect time for South Australians to update their Power Outage Plan.

SA Power Networks is committed year-round to ensuring the network is safe and reliable for the nearly 1 million homes and businesses who need it. But power outages which are out of our control can happen at any time, so it pays to always be prepared.

In spring and summer, extreme weather conditions can make supply extra vulnerable.

Things to consider include:

• Sign up for outage notifications. More than one mobile number or email address for a home or business can be registered
• Keep a torch or low volt portable light and spare batteries 
• Know how to use the manual override on electric gates or garage doors 
• Have a back-up plan to charge mobile devices, laptops and any portable batteries. 

South Australians living in bushfire risk areas should also consider what their bushfire plan looks like without power. A fire doesn’t need to be burning nearby for the power supply to be interrupted. But things such as electric gates, roller doors or water pumps may not operate when they are needed.

On days of elevated fire conditions, such as Total Fire Ban days, safety settings might be used on the network meaning that a very brief outage - which would usually restore automatically - may be longer as inspections determine whether it’s safe for power to be restored.

While anyone who relies on electricity for medical needs should consider the extra steps they may need to take within their year-round power outage preparations, and who needs to know about their back-up plans.

SA Power Networks External Affairs Manager Cecilia Schutz said all South Australians can also help us to make the network work, by reporting outages when they occur through our website.

“Even if we are already aware of the outage, individual reports may help us narrow down where the fault lies, enabling our people to respond and potentially restore power sooner,” Ms Schutz said.

“And if a storm brings down wires, remember to remain at least 10 meters away and call us immediately on 13 13 61.”

The SA Power Networks website has downloadable resources to help prepare a Power Outage Plan. Visit: Have a Power Outage Plan.

South Australians are urged to keep their plans accessible and make sure every member of their household or business is aware.