Ergon Energy, the longest distribution network in Australia
Ergon Energy is the electricity distribution network for regional Queensland, covering everywhere outside the south-east corner served by Energex. It delivers power to around 750,000 customers across 1.7 million square kilometres, making it the largest distribution network by area in Australia. The Ergon outage map is the tool customers check first when the power goes out in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Mount Isa or the Western Downs.
- The size of the Ergon Energy network and the regions it covers
- Why cyclones, bushfires and long distances drive most outages
- The investments and technologies Ergon uses to restore power faster
- The customer-facing outage map, alerts and concessions
A 1.7 million square kilometre network from the tropics to the outback
Ergon Energy is owned by Energy Queensland, the same Queensland Government-owned corporation that owns Energex. Despite the shared owner, the two networks face very different operating conditions: Energex is dense and urban, Ergon is sparse and remote.
Key figures for the Ergon Energy electric network:
- Around 750,000 customer connections.
- 1.7 million square kilometres of service area, about 97% of Queensland's land mass.
- More than 150,000 kilometres of powerlines, the longest distribution network in Australia.
- Around 33 isolated power systems serving towns and Indigenous communities not connected to the main grid.
The network spans the tropical Far North, the Coral Coast, the Wide Bay-Burnett, Central Queensland, the Western Downs and the remote north-west, with each region exposed to different outage risks.
Why tropical cyclones and bushfires shape the Ergon outage profile
The mix of outage causes on Ergon is unlike any other Australian network, dominated by cyclones, bushfires and the sheer length of rural feeders.
Tropical cyclones
Northern Queensland experiences around four to five tropical cyclones per cyclone season (November to April). Severe events such as Cyclone Yasi (2011), Cyclone Debbie (2017) and Cyclone Jasper (2023) have each left hundreds of thousands of Ergon customers without power for days or weeks. Cyclone Kirrily in early 2024 caused widespread damage in Townsville and surrounding areas.
Bushfires
Ergon operates a Network Bushfire Mitigation Plan with seasonal de-energising in catastrophic fire conditions. The Western Downs, Central Highlands and Southern Downs are the highest-risk zones.
Long rural feeders
Many Ergon customers are served by single-phase or SWER (single-wire earth return) lines that run for tens of kilometres. A single fault on these long feeders can isolate dozens of remote customers, and repair times depend on crew travel distance as much as on the fault itself.
Heat and humidity
Prolonged tropical heat reduces transformer capacity, and salt-laden coastal air accelerates corrosion of insulators and hardware along the coast from Cairns to Bundaberg.
Cyclone hardening, undergrounding and standalone power systems
Ergon spends around $1 billion per year on network capital works and operating expenditure under the AER's regulatory determination, with strong emphasis on resilience in cyclone-exposed coastal areas.
Ergon resilience programme highlights
- Cyclone-rated pole and conductor upgrades along the coastal corridor from Cairns to Bundaberg.
- Standalone power systems (SAPS) deploying solar plus battery to replace the most fault-prone single-line feeders.
- Replacement of ageing wooden poles with composite and steel construction in high-fire-risk zones.
Standalone power systems
Ergon has been a global leader in deploying SAPS for remote farms and homesteads. Replacing 50-kilometre powerlines with a local solar-plus-battery system removes the largest outage risk for these customers and reduces network costs.
Vegetation management
Ergon inspects and clears more than 50,000 kilometres of powerline corridor each year, focused on the high-fire-risk southern inland and the heavily forested coastal hinterlands.
Smart meters, microgrids and isolated systems
Smart meters
Ergon is rolling out smart meters in line with the national 2030 target. Smart meters give Ergon visibility on outages at the customer level, which matters even more on a sparse network where a single fault can leave a remote homestead unreported for hours.
Microgrids for isolated towns
Ergon runs around 33 isolated systems, ranging from small Indigenous community microgrids to mid-sized regional grids like Mount Isa. These networks rely on diesel, gas or solar-plus-battery generation, and reliability depends entirely on local equipment and fuel logistics.
Automated reclosers on rural feeders
On long single-line feeders, automated reclosers and sectionalisers limit the impact of a single fault. Without these devices, a tree on the line at kilometre 60 would cut power to every farm beyond it.
Outage map, app alerts and Queensland concessions
Ergon outage map
Ergon publishes a public outage map updated in near real time. Customers can check outage status by address, suburb or postcode and see estimated restoration times. The map is the primary tool used during cyclones and bushfire events.
Outage alerts and app
The Ergon mobile app and SMS alerts service give proactive notifications when an outage is reported at the customer's address. Updates include estimated restoration times and crew progress.
Life support customers
Households relying on life-support equipment can register through their retailer for priority notifications of planned outages and prioritised restoration.
Queensland Electricity Rebate
Eligible pensioners, seniors and Health Care Card holders can apply for the Queensland Electricity Rebate. The rebate is applied to bills issued by the customer's retailer (most Ergon customers buy from Origin Energy, the default retailer for regional Queensland).
Ergon, Energex and the broader Queensland network
For a wider view of how Australia's three power grids are structured, see the Australian power outage page. For south-east Queensland, including Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, the distribution network is Energex. When the power is restored but the internet is still down in regional Queensland, the largest fixed-line provider is the NBN (often via fixed-wireless or satellite in remote areas), and most customers buy retail broadband from Telstra or Optus.