'The system is under stress': Victorians urged to power down as temperatures soar
As Melbourne gears up to endure its hottest day this summer, residents are being urged to monitor their power consumption by limiting the use of appliances during peak periods.
The energy market operator has warned the electricity supply and demand balance is "very tight" in Victoria and has urged consumers to monitor their energy usage over the next two days.
More than 1000 Melburnians have already lost power, with roughly 1223 customers in Glen Iris experiencing outages. The United Energy website says the cause is "under investigation" and is not expected to be fixed until just before 2pm.
An extreme heatwave will hit Victoria before the Australia Day long weekend, with Friday expected to reach 43 degrees in Melbourne. A total fire ban has been declared for Friday.
The city is forecast to reach 36 degrees on Thursday before Melburnians swelter through the hottest night in a year, with the mercury not dropping below 29 degrees overnight. It is expected to still be 33 degrees at 9pm.
"The overnight minimum temperatures are nothing short of oppressive, unfortunately," the Bureau of Meteorology's Richard Russell said.
The extreme weather has prompted Melbourne bus operator Transdev to cancel some services and limit other routes to a reduced frequency. Yarra Trams will also run services to an "extreme weather timetable", with some trams, including those on Route 30, not running on Thursday.
The Australian Energy Market Operator released a statement on Thursday morning, warning the electricity supply and demand balance will be "very tight".
"At this point, what we are forecasting is we do have sufficient reserves. We are not anticipating any load shedding at all. We will continue to review it during the course of the day," AEMO chief executive Audrey Zibelman told 3AW.
"During peak hours, don't run appliances you don't need to run. Keep comfortable, but don't freeze yourself. Be aware the system is under stress and you need to do what's prudent."
She advised people to lower blinds before leaving for work in the morning, running dishwashers and washing machines outside peak periods, and adjusting air-conditioners to 20 to 24 degrees between 4pm and 7pm.
Hundreds of homes in Nagambie, north of Melbourne, will be without power on Thursday after a fault with an underground cable on Thursday night. It's forecast to reach 41 degrees on Thursday and 43 degrees on Friday.
More than 1253 AusNet customers have been affected, as well as hundreds more in nearby towns, including 636 in Avenel, 113 in Kirwans Bridge and 136 in Mangalore. Power is not expected to return until 5pm. The company are putting generators in the township as part of their contingency plan.
Country Fire Authority chief officer Steve Warrington warned Friday would mark the "first real day" of bushfire risk for the whole of the state this summer.
"It is time for all Victorians to be aware for the next four, six and up to eight weeks."
Australian Open organisers at Melbourne Park will be keeping a close eye on the temperature, with conditions set to mirror those of last week when it climbed into the mid to high 30s.
Both the men and women's singles semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday evening.
The much-discussed new heat policy – a one-to-five ‘heat stress’ scale – was carefully monitored by Australian Open organisers last week, hitting a 3.7 on the scale on the first day of the Open.
Friday will be the hottest day in Melbourne this summer. The closest Melbourne has come to Friday's forecast conditions was on January 4 when it reached 42.6 degrees.
The hottest day recorded in Melbourne was 46.4 degrees on February 7 in 2009, the day the Black Saturday bushfires started. The warmest night was January 12 in 2010 when it did not drop below 30.6 degrees.
A cool change will sweep through about 3pm on Friday when a "punchy" southwesterly change will see temperatures drop dramatically. In some places, they are expected to drop by 15 degrees in 20 minutes.
There is also the chance of a thundery shower, however it will be a mostly dry, windy change.
The weekend is expected to be much milder, with a top of 26 degrees on Australia Day and 25 degrees on Sunday. Along the Murray, it will remain hot, with temperatures in the mid to high 30s on Saturday before dropping to the low 30s on Sunday.