Lake Cathie residents are voicing their concerns after they were left without electricity, internet or phone usage for up to 30 hours on Saturday, January 14.
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About 1000 Lake Cathie customers were affected by an unplanned power outage at about 2pm on January 14 after a storm.
Essential Energy North Coast community relations manager Rachel Hussell said power was restored to all but 161 customers late on January 14.
A generator was sourced to restore power to the 161 customers on January 15 and the last customers were connected at 9.30pm.
Julia and Charles Watkins live on Shearwater Court and said they are disappointed with the amount of time it took for Essential Energy to respond to the incident.
“If they want to treat it as an essential service then they have to act more efficiently,” Mrs Watkins said.
The couple’s house normally runs off solar and they are concerned that they will be issued with a large bill to pay for the electricity they are using, due to a generator provided by Essential Energy.
“We shouldn’t have to be penalised for this,” Mr Watkins said.
Rod Streeter lives on Lakeside Way and said that his family are often forced to camp and carry around torches or candles.
The residents want to be better informed if there is a power outage, as one resident said half of the people in the area aren’t notified.
They said without phone coverage they are literally being ‘left in the dark’ about the situation.
Mr Streeter’s wife Deb runs a business from home and relies on access to internet and power to operate.
Mrs Streeter said that she is potentially losing thousands of dollars due to the lack of essential services.
Ms Hussell said crews responded immediately on January 14 and located an underground fault.
As a general rule, Ms Hussell said it is not Essential Energy’s policy to supply alternative generation during an outage.
“The company encourages all customers to have a contingency plan for when the power does goes out, either during a storm or for planned work,” she said.
Crews have completed repairs to the underground cable and tests were conducted on January 17 to prevent hazards that may cause any future interruptions.
Ms Hussell said customers were contacted by text or phone message to confirm their power would be moved back to the electricity network.
The location of the fault was in the vicinity of a previous fault which was repaired by Essential Energy at the time.
Meanwhile Ms Hussell said a drop out fuse caused a short outage for a customer on Kenwood Drive on January 17.
She said this was not related to the underground cable fault.
Ms Hussell said the company apologises for any inconvenience.
Local member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams said Essential Energy prioritised the resumption of power to the area and continues to undertake repair works to alleviate ongoing issues.
She said the company are processing claims for spoiled foods caused by the outage.
For questions or concerns regarding the impact of the power outage people can call 13 20 80.
