Energex under fire as heatwave brownout leaves 25,000 homes without power

Christmas could be under threat of another power outage after SEQ was hit hard over the weekend.

Ipswich was one of the worst hit areas with suburbs including Ripley and Camira being without power for up to five hours.

A power outage that left more than 25,000 homes without power over the weekend has triggered concerns that parts of southeast Queensland could be left in the dark for the second Christmas in a row.

Sunday’s oppressive heatwave, which resulted in temperatures soaring to a muggy 30°C, pushed southeast Queensland’s electricity network to its limits, resulting in more than 15,000 homes in Ipswich being left without power for more than four hours.

Energex said the peak of the disruption began around 6.30pm and Ipswich bore the brunt of the blackouts, with prolonged outages stretching into the late evening.

The surge in electricity demand, driven by residents turning up air conditioners and fans to combat the heat, triggered the network’s protection systems, which acted to turn off parts of the overheated grid.

There was a peak load on the Energex network of 4500 Megawatts, which compared to Energex’s record peak load of 5687MW recorded in January this year.

But the energy service provider said there had been sufficient power in the system, which collapsed in parts because of the physical strain of prolonged high temperatures and high energy.

Power was fully restored to most affected areas by 10pm, but lingering outages persisted for some, particularly in Ripley on Monday morning.

Energex said the systems were designed to prevent equipment damage by shutting off certain services during peak strain and high temperatures.

But storm activity also compounded the outages in some areas and slowed down restoration efforts.

The new state Energy Minister David Janetzki was asked to comment.

It was also bad news for those hosting Christmas parties with Energex unable to guarantee whether the grid would cope with the heat again.

“No electricity network in the world is immune from the impacts of adverse weather conditions,” Energex said.

“There were several outages on Sunday afternoon and into the evening due to network protection systems being engaged because of this high electricity use in some isolated areas around Ipswich.

“Network protection is used to avoid damage to equipment that can lead to more-prolonged and more-widespread outages.”

Thousands of Ipswich customers were left without power during yesterday’s heatwave and storms. Pictures: Contributed

Peak advocacy body Australian Industry Group Queensland head Michelle Farquhar said the outage in Ipswich had to be assessed to determine what action to take to ensure it did not reoccur over the Christmas break.

She said the electricity grid was put to the test sparking concern about the state’s capacity to handle the challenges of hot summers.

“A combination of high temperatures, high local power needs and wild weather seems to have overloaded some segments of the distribution grid even while there was plenty of power in the state as a whole,” Ms Farquhar said.

“We need to understand what happened on Sunday and how ready the grid is in Ipswich and across Queensland to cope with more hot summers.”

Veteran Ipswich councillor Paul Tully criticised the power provider’s handling of the situation, describing Sunday’s blackout as “one of the worst in decades”.

“There was no warning from Energex before more than 25,000 customers in southeast Queensland lost power,” he said.

“The Energex website provided no information for the outage and just had a ‘Season’s Greetings’ message.

“People are paying a King’s ransom for a second-rate electricity supply.”

“The board of Energex should be given an early Australia Day award – the Royal Order of the Boot.

“When the system goes into protection mode, appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators can sustain long-term damage,” he said.

Energex reported that the worst affected suburbs were Ripley, Camira, Collingwood Park and Redbank Plains.

Residents described a mix of inconvenience, resilience, and frustration.

Cloe Gamble from Ripley reported losing power just after 5pm with restoration only occurring at 10.30pm.

“We’re still having NBN issues though,” she added on Monday, underscoring how connectivity troubles compounded the power outage challenges.

In Camira, Racheal Wilson experienced the frustration of intermittent power.

“Addison Road, Camira is back online,” she posted, only to follow up minutes later: “Spoke too soon, power just went out again. This is a nightmare!”

Not all areas were equally affected. While Springfield and parts of Bundamba remained unaffected, Raceview saw power briefly restored only to lose it again.

Victoria Wickham lamented on Sunday night: “Power came on in Raceview for like 15 minutes. Now out again.”

Despite the frustrations, many residents turned to humour.

“Had to eat the ice cream,” joked Shelley Ibbertson, referring to a quick decision to salvage her freezer contents during the outage.

Others opened their homes to friends and family.

Diane Whatley Krause in Springfield offered her airconditioned refuge to a neighbour, writing: “Of course you can, my address is in the comment below this one.”

Still, the outages sparked questions and debates online.

Amanda Morrison expressed concern about the lack of official explanations.

“What caused the outage? We lost power for nearly four hours and nearly melted with the heat.”

Energex has yet to release a definitive statement, but grid strain from high temperatures and airconditioning use is suspected.

Residents were quick to praise Energex crews working in extreme conditions to restore electricity.

“Massive respect to the legends up there in cherry-pickers, in boiling heat and impending storms,” said Georgie Lovelock.

By late Sunday evening, power had been restored to most areas, but some residents continued to face issues with connectivity or sporadic outages.

The incident highlights the growing need for infrastructure upgrades to ensure reliability during Queensland’s increasingly hot summers.

15,000 homes were without power in Ipswich during yesterday’s heatwave.

The unexpected outage reignited concerns about the adequacy of southeast Queensland’s ageing electricity infrastructure, particularly as summer demand rises.

Residents have raised fears about the grid’s capacity to handle extreme weather conditions and whether necessary upgrades have been deferred.

Historical precedents, such as the deployment of temporary substations during similar crises in the early 2000s, highlight systemic vulnerabilities in the network.

Energy experts have also pointed to the risks associated with brownouts, where voltage reductions can damage household appliances.

With southeast Queensland poised for a sweltering summer, questions loom over whether Sunday’s brownouts were part of more widespread outages.

Critics, including Cr Tully, argued that failing to address these challenges could become a political headache for the state’s new government in the lead up to Christmas.

Energex has not disclosed whether load-shedding or substation failures triggered Sunday’s issues but confirmed that peak demand was a contributing factor.