Network reliability

The Australian Energy Regulator's benchmarking ranks CitiPower and Powercor among the highest performing electricity networks in the country. 

Our goal is to provide a quality service to a growing population and deliver continuous improvement. 

The Powercor network experiences extremes in temperature and conditions. We also service some of the highest bushfire risk areas in the state.  

We have Australia’s lowest density of customers, with an average of just 12 connections per square kilometre. The variety of conditions means the network has a range of powerlines – short, long and urban. This can impact the speed that regional teams are able to respond to outages.  

Service reliability targets have been agreed with the AER and are relevant to all powerlines in our region. They can be found below. 

Note: The targets are based on average performance across the network therefore some customers may receive a level of service above or below average results.

CitiPower is Australia’s most reliable electricity network. We are proud to deliver greater than 99.99% reliability.  

Our contingencies protect power supplies to Australia’s most densely populated customer base. We have a ‘double backup’ so unexpected events do not interrupt supplies to CBD energy users.  

Unexpected events could include extreme weather, fires, traffic accidents or infrastructure failures.  

The targets for service reliability agreed with the AER and relevant to all types of powerlines in our region. They can be found below. 

** Includes Melbourne central business district, East Melbourne, Southbank and parts of North Melbourne and South Melbourne.

Note: The targets are based on average performance across the network. Therefore, some customers may receive a level of service above or below average results.

You may be entitled to a GSL payment if we do not meet service standards for supply restoration or reliability. We make every effort to meet our service guarantees, but there may be circumstances where payments are made to our customers.  

GSL payments are based on how much time you were without electricity in a year. Payments are automatic and paid quarterly to your retailer. The retailer then applies the payment as a credit to your electricity bill.  

The GSL period and payments detailed in the table below apply from July 2026 – June 2027. 

Supply restoration events

Supply restoration payments are based on the amount of time you were without electricity in a year. 

*Major event day is an industry term used to indicate abnormal performance in supply reliability due to events outside our control such as extreme weather and storms. 

Low reliability payments are based on the number of times you experience supply outages in a year. 

You may be eligible to claim $25 if you are the first to report a faulty CitiPower or Powercor-owned streetlight neighbouring your residence and the fault isn’t repaired within two days. The proprietor of businesses neighbouring a faulty CitiPower or Powercor-owned streetlight may also be eligible to claim $25 if a reported fault isn’t repaired within two business days.