Published on Saturday, 20 January 2024 at 3:00:00 PM
City updates and information
The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is working with Government agencies and local service providers to support our community during the power outage facing our city and surrounding Shires.
Regular City updates will be provided on this page and our social media channels. Further information, key contacts and useful links can be found at the bottom of this page.
City update - 1.30pm Saturday 20 January 2024
Download City update Flyer
City update - 8.15pm Friday 19 January 2024
City update - 11am Friday 19 January 2024
City update - 7pm Thursday 18 January 2024
- The Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) met for the second time today to discuss further updates regarding the power outage affecting Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the surrounding region.
- Please find the most recent update from Western Power is available here.
What we know
- The Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Western Power and Synergy teams have arrived in the city this afternoon and commenced the prioritisation for essential services to be re-established.
- Our emergency service agencies, including the Police, Fire, Ambulance, and Hospital, are operational. Emergency lines are open.
There is still an extensive loss of communications across the city for mobile and NBN with no estimated time for restoration.
- Assessment of local supermarkets indicate that they are still trading for the sale of non-perishable items and plans are in place for back-up generator support to recommence the supply of cold and fresh foods.
- As at 6:30pm, Eagle Petroleum is open 24/7, have a supply of diesel and are accepting card only.
- The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport is operational with flights arriving in and out of city.
- Variable message boards are in place on the Goldfields Hwy and other arterial highways into Kalgoorlie-Boulder notifying travellers on fuel shortage and supply disruption.
What we do not yet know
- As at 6:30pm, Thursday 18 January, there is no confirmation on the estimated time for power to be restored.
What we are doing
- The City through the LEMC continues to liaise with emergency services, including DFES, the Police, Western Power, and the Water Corporation, as new developments come to hand.
- The City’s Main Administration Building has limited power but at this stage will open at 8.30am Friday 19 January.
- The City’s Works Depot and the Animal Management facility are without power but are still operational. All other City facilities are without power and remain closed.
- The City’s Environmental Health Team are working with food businesses across the city to ensure appropriate food safety and disposal of food.
- City Rangers are supporting awareness about animal welfare around the city.
- Alongside government agencies, the City has developed a communications plan to disburse information to the community throughout the power outage.
What we want you to do
- Please try to stay indoors outside of the heat and stay hydrated as much as possible.
- The next LEMC meeting has been scheduled for 9:30am tomorrow, Friday 19 January 2024 and a further update will be available pending the outcome of the discussions.
Key points
- The LEMAC are working together to support the community through this power outage.
- There is no current estimate of when power will be restored.
Next update will be available at approximately 11am Friday 19 January 2024.
Additional Information
Update from Western Power - 5.40pm
Western Power Update – Outage impacting Merredin, Kellerberrin, Kalgoorlie and surrounds - 5:40pm
We understand the frustration and inconvenience the current power outages are causing and assure the community we are working to repair and restore their power supply.
Full customer restoration will take a number of days and we are prioritising critical services infrastructure in collaboration with State Government agencies including health, water, and Police.
The severe storm that occurred yesterday impacted large portion of our network in the Central Wheatbelt and Goldfields and 17,000 customers remain without power in these areas. The cause of this outage is damage to the network from a lightning strike as a result of the storm.
The 220KV transmission line that supplies Kalgoorlie has sustained significant damage from the storm front that moved through the region yesterday evening. There are currently five towers down with repairs expected to take some time.
Western Power engineering teams are assessing other options for restoration including supplying the undamaged section of the 220KV line via the 132KV network. Synergy are also currently conducting repairs on the gas turbine generator in West Kalgoorlie in an effort to restore power to Kalgoorlie townsite.
Current restorations times are unknown. Until our crews are able to thoroughly assess the damage and the repairs required we cannot provide an accurate restoration time.
All planned work is cancelled, except underground-specific works and works that are critical for fault response resources. Spare resources will be assigned to the recovery effort.
Full customer restoration will take a number of days and we are prioritising key sites requested by emergency services, critical infrastructure in areas where hospitals and other emergency services are located, high voltage bulk transmission lines that supply power to thousands of customers, and localised faults that affect clusters of homes and businesses.
We urge the community to treat all damaged infrastructure as live – just because your home or area is without power does not mean that all infrastructure in the area is non-operational.
Crews are working in challenging circumstances across a large number of hazards to restore power as quickly and safely as possible, we ask the community to please treat them with respect.
We would like to remind everyone, that if you see any damage to the network, please stay eight metres away and Make The Safe Call to Western Power on the emergency 24/7 number 13 13 51 so that emergency response crews can attend the hazard to make the area safe.
Customers who have experienced an outage for longer than 12 consecutive hours can apply for an extended outage payment via Extended Outages Payment once power is reconnected.
Stay up to date by visiting our outage page at www.westernpower.com.au/faults-outages and emergency.wa.gov.au
City update – 3pm 18 January 2024
- The severe thunderstorm in Perth Hills and Wheatbelt yesterday has caused extensive damage to the transmission system into Kalgoorlie-Boulder, resulting in loss of power across the city and in parts of our neighbouring Shires.
- In addition, the gas turbine power station located near West Kalgoorlie Terminal has experienced a fault with the turbine which shut down at 10pm. Synergy technicians were conducting repairs on the power station this morning.
- The Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC) met this afternoon to discuss the current situation, with great support and collaboration.
What we know
- The Department of Fire and Emergency Services, Western Power and Synergy, have deployed teams to the city this afternoon to assess the situation and start the prioritisation for essential services to be re-established.
- Our emergency service agencies, including the Police, Fire, Ambulance, and Hospital, are operational.
- The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Airport is operational with flights arriving in and out of the City.
- There is an extensive loss of communications across the city for mobile and NBN
- Some supermarkets and suppliers are accepting cash only with limited fuel supply.
What we do not yet know
- As at 3pm, Thursday 18 January, there is no confirmation on the estimated time for power to be restored.
What we are doing
- The City through the LEMC continues to liaise with emergency services, including DFES, the Police, Western Power, and the Water Corporation, as new developments come to hand.
- We are sourcing ways to increase generator capacity to ensure continued provision of critical City services.
- The LEMC will receive a further update from DFES later this afternoon and anticipates a status update from the Operations Area Support Group including Telstra, NBN and Main Roads.
What we want you to do
- Please try to stay indoors outside of the heat and stay hydrated as much as possible.
- Further information will be provided from the City following this evening’s meeting LEMC meeting.
- Additional updates will be provided daily by Mayor Glenn Wilson at 8am and 4pm at the City’s Administration Building.
- The City will also provide information through radio, social media, the City’s website, notice boards.
Key points
- The LEMC are working together to support the community through this power outage.
- There is no current estimate of when power will be restored.
Next update will be available at
- Approximately 6pm Thursday 18 January 2024.
Quicklinks
Western Power
Extended Outage Claim
Emergency WA
Flyers
Food Safety during a Power Outage
Power Outage Food Safety Flyer
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