'No one deserves this': Sydney suburbs in lockdown hit by blackout

Josh Dutton
·News Reporter
·3-min read

There has been chaos across Sydney after a power outage affected 43,000 homes in lockdown.

Ausgrid said suburbs including Clovelly, Coogee, Daceyville and surrounding suburbs in the city’s east were experiencing blackouts.

Redfern, Botany, Eastgardens and other nearby suburbs also suffered outages.

People exercise along the boardwalk at Milsons Point as the Opera House is seen across the harbour on in Sydney, Australia.
About 43,000 homes in Sydney had power knocked out on Monday morning. Source: Getty Images

NSW Police earlier urged people to avoid Maroubra, South Coogee, Randwick and Hillsdale “where possible”.

An Ausgrid spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia the outage was down to a "major transmission fault" which affected about 43,000 customers in Sydney's east at about 11.15am.

"Ausgrid crews were quickly on scene and power was restored by 12.45pm," they said.

"Ausgrid apologises for the added inconvenience the outage caused families in lockdown trying to work from home and home school."

It was caused by an "external party" accidentally cutting into a supply cable.

Sydney suburbs without power

  • Banksmeadow

  • Botany

  • Eastgardens,

  • Hillsdale

  • Matraville

  • Pagewood

  • Phillip Bay

  • Centennial Park

  • Clovelly

  • Coogee

  • Daceyville

  • Eastlakes

  • Kensington

  • Kingsford

  • Maroubra

  • Moore Park

  • Randwick

  • Redfern

  • Rosebery

  • South Coogee

  • Waterloo

  • Zetland

Fury over lockdown without power

On Twitter, people were less than pleased with the blackouts.

One man tweeted “no one deserves this”.

“Completely unacceptable and negligent,” he tweeted.

Another woman vented her frustration tweeting many are working and studying from home due to Covid-19 restrictions while others called the outages “ridiculous” and "outrageous".

“Lockdown, power outage and 4G all but out as well,” another woman tweeted.

“What is this hell we are being subjected to?”

One man jokingly tweeted asking if it was the start of a “zombie apocalypse”.

More outages to come

Ausgrid said in a statement on Friday it had a number of planned outages scheduled during lockdown.

“We only ever turn the power off where it’s absolutely necessary to keep people safe while we undertake critical tasks,” it said.

“We know it’s a challenging time and we apologise for the additional inconvenience."

Ausgrid said Sydney, Maroubra, Lane Cove, Castle Cove, Waterfall, West Ryde, Woollahra and a number of other suburbs had scheduled outages for Monday morning.

A police car patrols along Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
Sydneysiders could face more outages in the coming weeks. Source: Getty Images

Rob Amphlett Lewis, Ausgrid chief customer officer, on Friday said the power company “is only going ahead” with works which are essential to secure power to customers including hospitals, aged care facilities, businesses and residential homes.

“If we do not undertake this work, power supply may be at risk and could result in much longer, unexpected outages in the middle of winter,” he said.

“We know this is tough for families and those working from home, but a few hours of discomfort now may prevent potentially serious issues which could result in lengthy power outages.”

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