Power restored in the Dandenongs a week early after wild storm, underground cables to be installed

After storm-affected residents were left in the dark for weeks, one big change is coming to the Dandenong Ranges’ power supply.

Underground power lines are being rolled out as part of the massive task to reconnect Dandenong Ranges storm victims, which is set to be completed a week earlier than expected.

Service provider AusNet has updated its expected reconnection times after making solid progress with its Dandenong Ranges Rebuild plan.

On Monday morning, its outage tracker showed only 26 homes were waiting to be reconnected following the June 9 storms.

The total included 23 homes in Sassafras and three in Olinda, with AusNet now expecting to reconnect them no later than July 3.

Fallen power lines in the Dandenong Ranges, some of which will be replaced with underground cables. Picture: David Geraghty

The clean-up from the wild June 9 storms continues in the Dandenong Ranges. Picture: Jason Edwards

An AusNet spokesman said good conditions and help from interstate, government and emergency agencies had led to the rebuild being ahead of schedule.

The spokesman said it hoped to have the last remaining homes “back on by the end of the weekend” and would help hundreds of homes and businesses using generators to reconnect to its network in the next two weeks.

The spokesman said AusNet would use underground lines as part of the rebuild, but did not specify where they were being placed.

Leader understands at least one section of the damaged network is being replaced with underground lines.

“Where it makes sense and is a faster solution, we will underground sections during the restoration,” he said.

Residents have had to rely on power generators while the effort to restore power continues. Picture: Ian Currie

“We have thrown every resource we have at getting the power back on after this catastrophic storm.”

AusNet has been working to restore power to 3000 homes in the region hit hard by the storms, including Kalorama, Mount Dandenong, Olinda, Sassafras, Sherbrooke, The Basin,

Tremont and Upwey.

Its planned works sheet showed the provider was set to be doing works in The Crescent in Upwey this week.

Residents were initially set for a painstaking wait after AusNet reassessed the damage from the June 9 storms.

It announced on June 16 it would not be able to reconnect the homes until July 10, prompting the state government to announce hardship payments for affected customers.

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