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Grid infrastructureAustraliaEIR-1078

Explosion at Blue Mountains substation cuts power to thousands twice in a week

Jan 2017Published 18 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

SignificantElectrical
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
Figure hidden: shown to subscribersLow confidence
supply cut for about •• daysShown in the record →Full estimate
From the recordRoot cause hiddenFailed part hidden
Where
Blaxland Zone Substation, Blue Mountains, New South Wales
Operator
Endeavour Energy
What
Explosion produced smoke but no fire and cut power to over 5,500 residents
Response
NSW Fire and Rescue attended
Cause
Faulty cable

Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): Endeavour Energy

What happened

An explosion at the Blaxland Zone Substation in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, produced smoke but no fire and left more than 5,500 residents without power during heat of about 40 degrees Celsius. It was the second incident at the same substation within a week, following a fire there three days earlier that left 7,514 people without power and required crews to repair damaged cables. The operator, Endeavour Energy, said a faulty cable was to blame for the second outage, apologised to affected customers and said it was investigating the cause of both incidents.

NSW Fire and Rescue attended. Power had been restored to 1,300 residents within hours of the second event. After the first outage the company had asked customers in the lower Blue Mountains to limit electricity use, including turning off pool pumps and limiting air conditioning, while repairs were carried out.

Contributing factors

Endeavour Energy attributed the second outage to a faulty cable. The incidents occurred during very high temperatures, with 39.5 degrees Celsius recorded in Blaxland, which increases demand on the network. The cause of the first fire was still being investigated at the time of reporting.

Lessons learned

  1. A faulty cable at a zone substation can cause repeat outages within days, so operators should inspect all associated cables before returning the site to full service.
  2. High demand from heat of about 40 degrees Celsius can overload a damaged substation, so operators should hold contingency plans for peak periods after the first fault.
  3. Early public requests to limit use after the first outage can reduce impact from a second failure, so clear communication on restoration times should be issued at once.

More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, outages, backup supply and restoration, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Cause of the first fire
  • Age and model of the faulty cable
  • Total downtime and cost of repairs
  • Whether other cables showed latent damage

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

The Sydney Morning Herald (smh.com.au)

Published 2026-09-18. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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Chart to reuse with this story: Grid infrastructure incidents in Australia, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

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