Lynette Smith and Rhona Ellis discovered a blackout survival strategy. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
It was still 45 degrees outside when a blackout hit parts of South Griffith at 6:40 pm on Wednesday (28 January), during the worst heat wave of the summer.
Elderly residents at the Griffith Retirement Estate (GRE) were struggling cooped up in their units without air-conditioning or fans, when 85-year-old resident Howard Camm had an idea.
“I figured I’d just go and sit out in the common area and see if anyone would join me,” he said.
Sure enough, Lynnette Smith, 78, followed him out with a bottle of chilled white wine.
Before long, a blackout party had started. The dark corridors soon filled with impromptu gatherings.
“It was tough being alone my room, but out here you don’t even notice the heat while we are drinking and chatting,” said 79-year-old Rhonda Ellis.
GRE staff and Essential Energy were quick to respond and worked diligently until power was restored two hours later.
“We were having so much fun we didn’t want to go back to our rooms when the lights came back on,” Ms Smith said.
June Midgley, 80, also found a way to cope with the blackout.
According to Essential Energy, the blackout impacted 172 customers and was caused by the combination of extreme heat affecting network equipment and increased energy usage at night. At GRE, dozens of air-conditioners would have been going at full tilt.
“Separately, unplanned outages affected about 270 customers in two other areas of Griffith for up to 1.5 hours on 28 January,” an Essential Energy spokesperson said.
John Robinson, 90, said it was the first time in his 13 years at GRE that the power had failed.
According to the temperature gauge at air-conditioning business P&M Rossiter on Yambil Street, the mercury hit a high of 48 degrees at around 5.30 pm on Wednesday in Griffith.
“We know how tough this heat is on our customers, and we’re doing what we can to minimise the impacts,” an Essential Energy spokesperson said.
“We appreciate our customers’ patience as we all work together to get through this heatwave. The extreme temperatures during the day are leading to hot nights and customers are understandably running air-conditioners for prolonged periods of time. With a couple more days of predicted extreme temperatures, everyone can help keep the power on with a few small things to conserve energy.”
Essential Energy has made the following recommendations to avoid blackouts during the summer heatwave:
- Turn your air-conditioner up a degree or two, even a small adjustment makes a noticeable difference, particularly during the night.
- Turn off any appliances that are not essential.
- Keep curtains drawn during the day to keep your house cooler.
- Limit the number of times you access the fridge and freezer.
“These small reductions in power usage will help ease pressure on the network, which supports reliability for the whole community during extreme heat. Essential Energy appreciates any steps customers can take – big or small – to help lighten the load on the network. If you rely on life-support equipment, we strongly encourage you to have a power outage plan in place, so you know what to do if the power goes out unexpectedly. Make sure your contact details are up to date with your retailer and always call triple zero in an emergency,” the spokesperson said.
