Substation explosion leaves Rietondale residents without power for days
Feb 2023Published 3 Nov 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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What happened
Heavy rain on the Friday before the report of 6 February 2023 (inferred to be 3 February) caused a ring outage in Rietondale, meaning the network tripped at several points. Residents reported smoke rising from a mini-substation in Rietondale Park, where the door of the substation box had been forced open by what the report describes as an explosion. Crews found that two mini-substations, at the junctions of Soutpansberg and Nuffield roads and Soutpansberg and Dale roads, needed replacement.
A ward councillor said the transformer was more than 50 years old and critically damaged, that some underground cables were also damaged, and that a damaged water pipe was hampering repairs. Replacement parts were delayed when the service provider collecting them was involved in a collision. By Monday 6 February new mini-substations were being installed, and residents had been without power for at least four days.
Contributing factors
Heavy rain preceded the outage. The councillor reported that the transformer was more than 50 years old and critically damaged, that underground cables were damaged, and that a damaged water pipe on the Dale Street side slowed repairs. The collection of replacement parts was delayed by a collision involving the service provider. The source does not confirm the cause of the explosion.
Lessons learned
- Assess and replace ageing distribution transformers on a risk-based schedule, particularly ahead of forecast heavy rain.
- Keep spare substation units and a reliable parts collection route so that a single transport problem does not extend an outage.
- Confirm the location of water and other underground services before excavating near energised cables.
- Give affected customers regular updates on restoration timelines, as residents reported frustration at the lack of information.
More lessons on maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, outages, backup supply and restoration, electrical protection and isolation, from every incident on the register.
Source
Published 2026-11-03. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
