Power outages and supply
Unexpected power outages or ongoing supply issues can be frustrating and disruptive—especially if they happen frequently or cause damage. While some outages are unavoidable, like those caused by storms or maintenance, you have the right to reliable energy supply.
This page will tell common reasons for power outages complaints, what to do if you’re affected by an outage or supply issue and when you can contact us for help.
If you’re experiencing an outage because you’re provider has disconnected you due to payment issues, please visit Disconnection issues.
Common power outage and supply complaints
Below are some common issues you may experience from a power outage. It’s important to know that when it comes to power outage issues, you often will be dealing with your electricity distributor and not your provider.
A distributor maintains the infrastructure like power poles and lines, where your provider sells the electricity to you and manages your account. In Queensland for your distributor you will be with one of two suppliers:
Planned outage without appropriate notice
Sometimes electricity providers and distributors need to interrupt supply for maintenance, upgrades or for safety reasons. In these cases, they must give you at least 4 business days’ notice, including details about the date, time and expected duration of the outage.
Unplanned outages
Unplanned power outages can be caused by storms, accidents or unexpected faults in the network. While distributors can’t always prevent these, they are expected to respond quickly, provide updates and restore power as soon as possible.
Frequent or extended outages
If you’ve experienced multiple outages in a short period or long-duration interruptions, you may be entitled to guaranteed service level (GSL) payments, depending on your location and distributor. These payments are designed to compensate you for poor supply reliability.
If you’re experiencing this, it’s important to record details. Note the start and end times of the outage, how often it’s occurred and any damage caused. Take photos if needed.
For more on GSL payments, refer to:
South East Queensland, Energex, Guaranteed Service Levels
Greater Queensland, Ergon Energy, Guaranteed Service Levels
Voltage issues or poor-quality supply
If your lights frequently flicker, appliances cut out, you experience high or low voltage levels or your solar inverter stops exporting electricity during the day, this could be a supply quality issue. These problems can sometimes cause damage to appliances or electronics, which may be claimable.
Damage claims or compensation
If you’ve had appliances damaged or lost food due to an outage or voltage fluctuation, you can submit a claim to your distributor. If you feel your claim has been unfairly denied, you will need to appeal that decision with your distributor. The distributor’s claim denial letter should provide you with information on how to appeal a decision.
What to do when experiencing a power outage
Check with your distributor to see if there has been an outage reported. They’ll have outage maps or updates online or via SMS. If it’s a known issue, you may already be on the notification list.
Turn off any sensitive appliances either at the wall or at the switchboard. This may prevent damage when power is restored.
What to do next
You can contact us for help if you've contacted your distributor about your power outage or supply issues and:
- didn’t receive or received late notification for a planned outage
- believe an unplanned outage was due to poor maintenance or negligence
- your supply issue isn’t being resolved or investigated properly; or
- believe your claim for compensation from damage due to an outage was unfairly denied.
Ready to make a complaint?
To make a complaint with EWOQ you can complete our online form.
If you're unable to make a complaint online or need additional help, you can call us on 1800 662 837. We're available from 8:30am to 5:00pm every weekday except Tuesday when we open at 9:30am.