heat wave, page-7

Huge power outage hits Victoria amid record heatwave
By staff writers
Herald Sun
January 30, 2009 08:12pm

A HUGE power outage has struck Victoria, leaving hundreds of thousands in the dark and plunging trains into chaos.
Ryan Auger of CitiPower said initial estimates indicate at least 235,000 of the company's customers were affected when the system shed 1000 megawatts of power at around 6.30pm (AEDT), The Herald Sun reports.

Mr Auger said it was "probably the most significant load-shedding the state has ever seen".

Melbourne's CBD as well as Essendon, Pascoe Vale and St Albans have reportedly been hit by blackouts.

Much of western Melbourne also appears to have been affected.

Crown casino is reportedly being evacuated.

Damien Batey of Powercor said the blackouts may have occurred due to a problem with one of SP AusNet’s transmission cables.

SP AusNet is one of Australia's largest publicly-listed energy delivery companies, managing a $6.3 billion electricity and gas network and servicing more than one million customers.

"All we know at this stage is it occurred at the generation or transmission stage," he said.

"It looks like it might be confined to the Powercor network.

"The information we have is that 1000 megawatts of power was shed in the western Melbourne/Victoria region."

In addition to lines closed earlier today, Connex has now suspended services on the Upfield line.

Power failures between Flinders St and Richmond, and between Southern Cross and North Melbourne, have caused massive delays.

Passengers at Flinders St station are facing delays of up to 45 minutes.

Connex has also suspended services on the Upfield line.

Connex is unable to confirm reports of a power failure in the City Loop, but Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said there had been a power outage on that line.