ActewAGL feeling the heat on power poles

sepi said :

It isn’t all pole replacement – some of these vital jobs are just meter box replacement. If the meter box has sat there for 30 years surely it can last another week or two.

You don’t need to shut power to 33 homes for one meter, it is just a fuse at the sub-station or pillar box, or pole-top fuse if in the older burbs.

It isn’t all pole replacement – some of these vital jobs are just meter box replacement. If the meter box has sat there for 30 years surely it can last another week or two.

johnboy said :

I suspect the issue is they don’t want to advertise the suburbs where the security systems will be off for the morning.

I thought about that, and that would be a wise precaution, but the monitored systems have 12v back up, and I believe the DIY ones usually have some form of battery.

johnboy said :

I suspect the issue is they don’t want to advertise the suburbs where the security systems will be off for the morning.

Yeah, that was my first thought too, especially if the work is being done during work hours. It’s just common sense.

They really are a nasty mob, them folks at ACTEW. Uncaring and greedy. Look, maybe if all those Canberrans with their electric alarm clocks and ducted air con had the most reliable network in the country, ACTEW’s insistence with maintenance wouldn’t seem so bad, right? Or what if we had the cheapest power bills in Australia? Mate, I’d be buying the CEO a beer.

Oh wait – hang on…..

Silentforce said :

“ActewAGL has made the decision not to provide information to the media about suburbs or streets affected by planned outages. This decision has been made to protect the confidentiality of the affected customers. And, is therefore a matter between ActewAGL and the customer.”

I call ‘Bulls***!’

As something of a privacy advocate, I, too, call BS. Bogus “privacy” excuses are too often used by both business and government to hide behind.

chewy14 said :

sepi said :

This bit from the Ct is the real reason i think – they don’t want a lot of people ringing them up!

“He also said in the unnamed suburb on Friday where 33 customers were affected, there were 2000 homes and ActewAGL did not want to cause undue stress to unaffected customers or prompt them to flood its switchboard with enquiries, possibly preventing a real emergency from being attended to.”

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/call-for-review-of-actewagl-power-cut-planning-during-heatwaves-20140117-30zt8.html#ixzz2qdiH5rG1

the whole thing has been hopeless. People need to know when their power is going off. this new work they are doing at 5.30 am – have they told anyone?? – do people just get up late (with no alarm clock) to find they have no power and can’t get out of the garage?

Ah no.

They are required to send out letters to affected residents well beforehand. If you didn’t get a letter, your power ain’t going off. Simple.

Honestly, its a few hours of no power for a few individuals. How did some of these people survive before air conditioning?

We did get a letter, that is part of the problem. the letter named a whole week – inc saturday, when the power could be off between 830 and 4.30. But now they say they are starting at 5.30am – well does that apply to the people who got letters weeks ago saying 830?

and they provided a number to ring for enquiries – guess what – I’ve rung it about 6 times – no answer!!

People with a medical requirement for electricity (life support rebate customers) are still affected by maintenance outages BUT receive written notification significantly more than four days in advance. It is up to the customer to ensure that alternative power source is available for planned outages.

Not sure about changes to commencement time though – unannounced power off at 5.30am when you were expecting it on until 9am could make things difficult. Though it would definitely make for an early wake up call for anyone using a sleep apnoea machine!

Unlike Telstra, who reinstated service to Priority Assistance Customers ASAP after the 2003 bushfires, Actewagl electricity life support customers received no priority for reconnection. In our case the phone was on within two or three days but the power stayed off for just short of two weeks.

Slow clap for actewagl.

Silentforce is spot on “risk based decision” they blame the person who did their risk management plan as a means of weaselling out of taking responsibility more like it.

This has been a public relations disaster, you would think the CEO at the first instance of hearing the complaints on the radio would have hit the phone and cancelled the work. But no, they put their PR people onto it and prattled on about causing slippage to their tight maintenance schedule. Got news for ya, the most basic planner for construction factors in rain days. Surely you had some float in your schedule plan to accommodate all sorts of weather?

Poor form and lack of common sense IMHO.

sepi said :

This bit from the Ct is the real reason i think – they don’t want a lot of people ringing them up!

“He also said in the unnamed suburb on Friday where 33 customers were affected, there were 2000 homes and ActewAGL did not want to cause undue stress to unaffected customers or prompt them to flood its switchboard with enquiries, possibly preventing a real emergency from being attended to.”

Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/call-for-review-of-actewagl-power-cut-planning-during-heatwaves-20140117-30zt8.html#ixzz2qdiH5rG1

the whole thing has been hopeless. People need to know when their power is going off. this new work they are doing at 5.30 am – have they told anyone?? – do people just get up late (with no alarm clock) to find they have no power and can’t get out of the garage?

Ah no.

They are required to send out letters to affected residents well beforehand. If you didn’t get a letter, your power ain’t going off. Simple.

Honestly, its a few hours of no power for a few individuals. How did some of these people survive before air conditioning?