Western Power, the network that runs the South West grid in WA
Western Power is the electricity network operator for the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), the grid that serves Perth and the south-west of Western Australia. It is unlike any other Australian network: it operates outside the National Electricity Market, owns both transmission and distribution, and serves customers who almost all buy their electricity from a single retailer, Synergy. The Western Power outage map is the tool customers check first when the power goes out in Perth, Mandurah, Bunbury, Geraldton, Albany or anywhere on the SWIS.
- The size of the Western Power network and the SWIS grid
- Why bushfires, storms and ageing assets drive most outages
- The investments and technologies Western Power uses to restore power faster
- The customer-facing outage map, alerts and WA concessions
An isolated grid from Kalbarri to Albany, 1.1 million customers
Western Power is owned by the Western Australian Government. The SWIS is one of the largest isolated grids in the world by area, with no physical connection to the NEM or to any other system. WA also operates outside the AER framework: the network is regulated by the WA Economic Regulation Authority (ERA).
Key figures for the Western Power network:
- Around 1.1 million customer connections on the SWIS.
- About 2.3 million people served across the South West of WA.
- 255,000 square kilometres of service area, from Kalbarri in the north to Albany in the south and Kalgoorlie inland.
- Around 7,800 kilometres of transmission lines and 90,000 kilometres of distribution powerlines.
The network covers metropolitan Perth, the Perth Hills, the Peel region (Mandurah), the South West (Bunbury, Margaret River, Busselton), the Great Southern (Albany), the Mid West (Geraldton) and the eastern Goldfields (Kalgoorlie-Boulder).
Why bushfires, storms and ageing rural assets drive most outages
The Western Power outage profile mixes metropolitan storm damage with rural infrastructure exposure across one of the largest distribution networks in Australia.
Severe storms and winter fronts
Strong cold fronts in winter bring damaging winds and rain across Perth and the South West. The May 2020 storms left more than 70,000 customers without power, with widespread tree damage across the metropolitan network. Summer thunderstorms in the Perth Hills also cause significant local outages.
Bushfires
The Perth Hills, the Darling Range, the Great Southern and the eastern Wheatbelt are all in high bushfire-risk landscapes. Western Power operates a comprehensive Bushfire Risk Management Plan with seasonal de-energising on catastrophic fire days.
Vegetation
Trees and branches falling on lines are a leading cause of outages, especially in the karri and jarrah forests of the South West and the Perth Hills.
Ageing wooden poles and rural feeders
A large portion of the rural Western Power network was built in the post-war decades using wooden poles. Pole failures are a recurring source of outages, particularly during high-wind events, and rural feeders running for tens of kilometres mean a single fault can affect many customers.
Heatwaves
Perth experiences regular multi-day heatwaves in summer that stress transformers and conductor capacity, and high evaporative cooling load drives evening peaks.
Standalone power systems, undergrounding and SWIS expansion
Western Power is in the middle of one of the most ambitious resilience and renewable-integration programmes in Australia, driven by the WA Government's commitment to phase out coal generation on the SWIS by 2030.
Western Power investment highlights
- Around $4 billion of capital expenditure proposed across the current Access Arrangement period.
- Standalone power systems (SAPS) deployed for around 100 sites already, with hundreds more planned.
- Major transmission upgrades to integrate utility-scale renewables in the Mid West and Wheatbelt regions.
Standalone power systems
Western Power was the first network in Australia to deploy standalone solar-plus-battery systems at scale for remote customers. Removing 30 to 60 kilometres of rural powerline and replacing it with a local SAPS eliminates the largest outage risk for these customers.
State Underground Power Program
The State Underground Power Program, a long-running initiative co-funded by the WA Government and local councils, has progressively undergrounded overhead distribution in older Perth suburbs since 1996. It significantly reduces storm-related outages where it has been applied.
Pole replacement
Western Power inspects and replaces ageing wooden poles each year across the rural network, prioritising high-fire-risk and high-wind corridors.
Smart meters, automation and Perth's solar-heavy grid
Smart meters
Western Power is rolling out smart meters across the SWIS. WA does not operate under the AER 2030 mandate, but the rollout is following a similar timeline, supporting outage detection at the property level.
Self-healing network
Automated reclosers and sectionalisers are deployed across the urban and rural network, isolating faults within seconds and rerouting power around damaged segments.
Rooftop solar and grid stability
More than one in three homes on the SWIS now has rooftop solar. Western Power is upgrading transformers and voltage management to handle reverse power flows on sunny days. Because the SWIS is an isolated grid, the technical challenges of high solar penetration are particularly acute.
Network monitoring
Western Power operates a 24/7 control centre in Perth that monitors transmission and distribution across the SWIS. Combined visibility helps coordinate response during major events.
Outage map, alerts and WA energy concessions
Western Power outage map
Western Power publishes a public outage map updated in near real time. Customers can check outage status by address or suburb and see estimated restoration times. The map is the primary tool used during storm and bushfire events.
Outage alerts and app
Customers can register for SMS or email alerts when an outage is reported at their address. The Western Power app gives mobile access to the outage map and proactive notifications.
Life support customers
Households relying on life-support equipment can register through Synergy for priority notifications of planned outages and prioritised restoration during unplanned events.
WA energy concessions
Eligible Western Australians can apply for the Energy Assistance Payment, the Hardship Utilities Grant Scheme (HUGS), the Air Conditioning Rebate and the Cost of Living Assistance Payment, administered by the Department of Communities.
Western Power, Synergy and Horizon Power, the three WA utilities
For a wider view of how Australia's three power grids are structured, see the Australian power outage page. On the SWIS, Western Power runs the wires while Synergy is the retailer that bills residential customers and operates the customer service line. Outside the SWIS, the rest of WA is served by Horizon Power. When the power is restored but the internet is still down in Perth or the South West, the largest fixed-line provider is the NBN, and most customers buy retail broadband from Telstra, Optus or TPG.