Why This Matters to You
When the power goes off, the instinct is to ring an electrician. Sometimes that's right and sometimes it costs you a callout for something that was never yours to fix.
The line is simple. Everything from the street to your meter belongs to SA Power Networks. Everything from the meter into your house is yours. If the fault is on their side, we can't legally touch it and you have paid us to come and tell you that. If it's on your side, they won't touch it and you have waited for a truck that was never coming.
Two minutes of checking sorts it. These are the same questions we ask on the phone before agreeing to come out.
Check One: Do the Neighbours Have Power?
Look out the window. At night this is easy: are the streetlights on, are the houses opposite lit? During the day, knock on a door or check a neighbour's outside light.
If the whole street is out, it's a network fault. Ring SA Power Networks on 13 13 66. It's their infrastructure, their responsibility and their cost. There's nothing an electrician can do.
If your neighbours have power and you don't, keep going.
Check Two: Look at Your Main Switch
Open the switchboard and find the main switch. It's usually the largest one, often labelled "Main Switch", and it controls everything.
If it has tripped to the off position, something in your installation caused it. Switch it back on. If it holds, you have had a one-off fault, most likely an appliance. If it trips straight back off, stop. That's a real fault on your side and it needs an electrician.
Don't keep flipping it back and forth. It tripped because it detected something, and forcing it repeatedly is how a manageable fault becomes a fire.
Check Three: Is It Just One Circuit?
If some things work and others don't, you haven't lost supply at all. One circuit has tripped.
Look for a single breaker or RCD sitting in the off position while the rest are on. Unplug everything on the affected area, reset it, then plug things back in one at a time until it trips again. Whatever was plugged in at that moment is your culprit, and it's usually a kettle, a toaster, a fridge, a washing machine or something outdoors that has got wet.
That's a job you can often finish yourself for the price of throwing out an old appliance.
Check Four: Look at the Overhead Service
If you have an overhead supply, step outside and look at where the wires come from the pole to your house. You're looking for a cable that has come away from the bracket, a bracket pulling out of the fascia, or wires lying on the roof or the ground.
Never touch or go near a fallen or hanging wire, and keep children and pets away. Treat it as live regardless of appearances. Ring SA Power Networks on 13 13 66 immediately.
Worth knowing: the point of attachment on your house, and the cable from there into your meter box, is generally your responsibility rather than the network's. So storm damage at the house end often is an electrician's job. If you aren't sure which side of the line the damage sits on, describe it to us on the phone and we'll tell you honestly.
Check Five: Is It a Planned Outage or a Known Fault?
SA Power Networks publishes current outages on their website, and you can check your address. If there's a known fault or planned work in your area, that answers it and there's nothing more to do than wait.
This is worth doing before ringing anyone, because it takes thirty seconds.
When It's Definitely Us
- Neighbours have power, you don't, and your main switch is on
- The main switch trips off again immediately every time you reset it
- One circuit keeps tripping and you can't find an appliance causing it
- There's a burning smell, scorching, buzzing or heat at the switchboard
- An outlet or switch is sparking, or warm to touch
- Someone got a shock or a tingle from a tap, appliance or metal fixture
- Damage at the house end of the supply, the meter box, or the point of attachment
When It's Definitely SA Power Networks
- The whole street or a run of houses is out
- Wires down, hanging low, or damaged between the pole and your property
- A pole is damaged, leaning or has been hit
- There's a published outage for your address
- You have partial power with lights unusually bright or dim across the house, which can indicate a network neutral fault and should be reported straight away
That last one is worth taking seriously. Lights bright in one part of the house and dim in another, appliances behaving oddly, is a classic sign of a lost neutral. It can damage everything plugged in and it's dangerous. Turn the main switch off and ring 13 13 66.
Save Both Numbers
SA Power Networks faults and emergencies: 13 13 66. Us: 0435 006 420. Put both in your phone now rather than looking them up in the dark.
