Farmers have been urged to prepare for power outages during bushfires.
THE State Government has announced changes to the management of electricity in the fire danger period.
The Victorian Farmers Federation has urged its members to inform themselves of possible impacts on their farms.
VFF President Andrew Broad said that the changes to electricity management can affect electricity reliability.
“Powerlines will be managed differently during the high fire danger period this year and has the potential to affect electricity reliability for the six weeks after 23 January,” Mr Broad said.
“There will be about 6000 customers in the west of the state that will get a letter notifying of the change. I urge all farmers to heed this warning.
“The changes to the management will mean that every fault for those 6000 customers will require a crew to investigate before power will be returned during that six week period.
“There is certainly the potential to lose power for a significant amount of time. I urge farmers to prepare.
“This may mean investment in generators to make sure that animal welfare is not compromised.
“If farmers experience any problems with electricity reliability they should be contacting their distributor.
“The changes to electricity distribution will also affect all other customers on Total Fire Ban Days.
“Across the state, electricity will not return after a fault until the cause has been investigated by crew to determine it is safe to do so.
“The result may be long power outages on Total Fire Ban days.
“The VFF has requested an extensive monitoring program to determine the full impact of this change.”
