Stop Preventable Blackouts in Heatwaves: Demand Stronger Consumer Protections and Accountability for Australia’s Electricity Networks

To the Honourable Members of the House of Representatives and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy:

We, the undersigned citizens of Australia, call on the Australian Government to urgently introduce stronger national regulations to hold privatised electricity network operators accountable for chronic, preventable power outages – especially during extreme heatwaves that threaten lives, health, and basic living standards.

In January 2026, during a severe heatwave with temperatures exceeding 42–43°C in Sydney suburbs, thousands of households (including my street of 36 homes in Emu Plains, NSW) endured multi-day blackouts due to known, longstanding faults in underground infrastructure. This is not isolated: similar failures recur every summer across NSW and other states, often linked to networks like Endeavour Energy that have known issues for decades yet delay fixes.

These outages cause unacceptable hardship:

•  No refrigeration → spoiled food and unsafe medication storage.

•  No air conditioning → dangerous heat exposure, especially for the elderly, those with medical conditions (e.g., cancer treatment), and vulnerable families.

•  Inability to use rooftop solar panels due to grid safety rules (anti-islanding), even when the grid fails – a limitation not seen in many other countries.

•  Poor customer service: No senior managers available for emergency support like hotel accommodation during crises.

Privatisation promised better customer service but has too often prioritised shareholder profits over reliable supply, leading to under-investment in maintenance and resilience. Existing schemes (e.g., Guaranteed Service Levels) provide minimal compensation and fail to address human impacts in extreme weather.

We demand the following national laws/regulations be introduced or strengthened via the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC), or federal legislation:

1.  Mandatory Support During Prolonged Heat-Related Outages
Where temperatures exceed 35°C and a known network fault causes customers to lose full or partial supply for more than 16 hours in any 24-hour period or longer:

 •  Offer hotel accommodation (at a resident’s choosing) until all repairs complete, including the know fault.

 •  Cover all customer effected food costs, while they are forced to live away from home

 •  Provide $1,000 per household compensation upon return to restock essentials.

 •  Arrange 24/7 security and regular police patrols in affected areas if residents relocate.

2.  Automatic Bill Reductions for Unresolved Known Faults
Six months after identifying a system fault (not repaired), apply a percentage discount on bills matching the fault’s potential impact (e.g., 33⅓% for one faulty phase out of three), backdated to identification date, until fixed.

3.  Public Transparency Register
Require all unresolved faults (beyond one month of being identified) to be listed on a free, public, searchable national website. 
Non-compliance: $1 million fine, doubled per repeat offence.

4.  Shareholder-Funded Costs
All above costs must come from shareholders/dividends, not passed to customers via higher bills.

5. Compensation for Lost Solar Export During Prolonged Outages from Known Faults

Where a prolonged electricity outage occurs due to a known network fault and causes the supplier to use alternative on-site generators (or would have if not for the outage), the electricity distributor must pay solar customers $0.65 per kilowatt-hour for the estimated daytime solar export they would have fed into the grid.

This payment applies daily during the outage period, specifically for the hours between 06:00 and 19:30 (daylight/export hours), until the fault is fully repaired.

•  The amount is calculated based on the customer’s historical average daily daytime export (from the previous 12 months) or the system’s rated capacity, whichever is lower.

•  This compensation is in addition to any existing GSL payments and must be paid automatically or upon simple claim, funded by shareholders (not passed to customers).

These measures would protect vulnerable Australians, incentivise timely repairs, and restore trust in our electricity system amid worsening heatwaves due to climate change.

We urge Parliament to debate and act on this issue immediately – no more lives and livelihoods put at risk by preventable failures.

Sign this petition to demand real change for reliable, fair electricity across Australia.