As at 11am,
Monday, 12 January 2026
More than 200 field workers are on the ground today across fire-affected areas in Harcourt, Natimuk, Cobram and Skipton/Streatham as power restoration efforts continue.
Crews are focusing on rebuilding large parts of the power network destroyed by bushfires and restoring power to about 1,280 customers, with most in the Ravenswood and Harcourt region.
Since Friday, Powercor teams have replaced more than 150 poles and rebuilt large parts of the electricity network damaged by fire.
More than 100 poles will be replaced over the next few days, and teams are continuing to access fire-affected areas to assess other damage.
Today’s work includes:
- Nine crews are replacing 14 poles and repairing a high voltage line that will allow us to restore power to large areas of Ravenswood and Harcourt today. Further assessments of our network in fire-affected areas are continuing in this location. A specialised team has also been mobilised to begin rebuilding the power supply to Mt Alexander Communications Tower. Given the steep and difficult terrain, this work is expected to take a number of days. There are still areas in Ravenswood and Harcourt that remain unsafe for us to access. Our crews will continue working closely with CFA to safely access these sites to assess any damage and conduct repairs.
- In Natimuk, crews are rebuilding the powerline to Lake Natimuk and restoring power. Yesterday, teams replaced 21 poles and a further 20 poles are expected to be replaced today. We expect to restore power to most customers in the local area by tomorrow.
- In Cobram, crews are conducting final clean up and repair work, with most expected to be completed today.
- In Skipton/Streatham, 16 crews are replacing the remaining 80 damaged poles. This work is expected to be completed by the end of Wednesday. Yesterday the team replaced 38 poles and almost finished rebuilding the backbone of the main powerline in the area.
- In Shelford/Meredith, we expect to complete the final clean up today, with crews replacing SWER poles and transformers.
- Note that many of these areas still have an active fire front and we don’t have access to all parts of the impacted network. More repair works are likely to be identified.
Based on our current assessments, we expect to have customers back on by the end of Wednesday. However, these estimated restoration times may change based on any further assessments by our team and we will keep customers updated via our outage map, SMS, contact centre and other channels.
We are closely monitoring the Carlisle River fire that is threatening some electricity assets in the region.
We know being without power during this challenging time is hard. We have plenty of crews on the ground doing everything possible to safely restore supply.
Thank you to the CFA and other emergency agencies that are assisting our crews to safely access fire-affected areas. This work is essential to our restoration work.
Based on our current assessments, we expect to have customers back on by the end of Wednesday. However, these estimated restoration times may change based on any further assessments by our team and we will keep customers updated via our outage map, SMS, contact centre and other channels.
We are closely monitoring the Carlisle River fire that is threatening some electricity assets in the region.
We know being without power during this challenging time is hard. We have a large number of crews on the ground doing everything possible to safely restore supply.
Thank you to the CFA and other emergency agencies that are assisting our crews to safely access fire-affected areas. Their support is essential to our restoration work.
On-the-ground support
Our emergency response vehicles and community support teams will be on the ground in Castlemaine and Skipton from 10.30am today to provide assistance to residents affected by recent outages.
Customers can speak with our teams about their power supply, charge mobiles and other devices, or grab a coffee. We are at:
- Castlemaine Town Hall – 25 Lyttleton St, Castlemaine.
- Skipton Mechanics Institute Community Hall (Town Hall) – 5 Anderson Street, Skipton.
Come down and have a chat with our team.
Reconnecting private properties
Powercor will waive reconnection fees for properties affected by these bushfires.
If your property has been disconnected or affected by fire or water, you will need to engage a registered electrical contractor:
- Search by location through Energy Safe Victoria at: https://esv.vic.gov.au/licensing-coes/public-register-and-searches/
- The electrician will complete a safety and compliance inspection
- Once any repairs are completed they will issue a Certificate of Electrical Safety to us (at info@powercor.com.au)
- They’ll arrange the reconnection of your power through us by phoning 1300 360 410.
More information is available at www.powercor.com.au/media-and-resources/blog/reconnecting-electricity-after-a-fire/
Documents and resources
