Extreme heat hitting the ACT at the weekend will force a total fire ban into a third day for Canberra, as emergency services warn of a severe fire danger on Sunday.
As temperatures reached more than 40 degrees late on Friday afternoon, ACT Emergency Services Agency Commissioner Dominic Lane declared the total fire ban would continue on Sunday, in line with a statewide ban that day for NSW.
The mercury in Canberra reached a peak of 40.6 at Tuggeranong on Friday, short of the 41 degrees forecast.
However the Bureau of Meteorology expects a high of 41 on Saturday, and only a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm in the afternoon and evening.
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An unplanned power outage hit Spence, Melba and Fraser at 5pm on Friday, affecting 882 ActewAGL customers. About the same time, a mounted transmitter failure caused a separate outage for 30 customers at Duffy.
The cause of the blackout for Spence, Melba and Fraser at deadline was unknown and being investigated, but was unrelated to any 'rotational load shedding' flagged as possible power disruptions earlier on Friday, ActewAGL said.
Power was restored by 8pm. Another 1600 properties were affected by further unplanned outages at Franklin and Ngunnawal. Power was expected to be restored to those areas by 9.30pm.
The Australian Education Union's ACT branch said it received reports on Friday from a number of schools that children weren't coping with the extreme heat.
Meanwhile, a small grass fire burned briefly at the National Arboretum late on Friday afternoon before fire fighters extinguished it.
Earlier on Friday, Canberrans were encouraged to take the strain off the ACT's electricity supply.
ACT emergency services joined climate change and sustainability minister Shane Rattenbury's calls for lowering power usage in homes and businesses, but reminded people to still take appropriate precautions for their safety and comfort.
The Australian Energy Market Operator warned of the potential high demand across the NSW network because of the heat and the ACT government told Canberrans this could lead to minor blackouts across the capital.
On Friday afternoon, authorities warned of the ongoing risk of supply shortfalls that day.
"We've been in conversations throughout the day with the Australian Energy Market Operator. There remains a possibility of supply shortfalls in Canberra especially from mid to late afternoon," Director-General, Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate Dorte Ekelund said.
Ms Ekelund said that any disruption would see 'rotational load shedding' to electricity supply.
"Load shedding occurs when the electricity supply to customers is interrupted because the electricity demand is higher than what the electricity system can supply at that particular time.
"If there is a disruption this could result in selected residential areas being switched off for a period of up to two hours on a scheduled basis.
"To help reduce the risk of this occurring, it is important households and businesses continue to do what they can to limit their electrical use."
Spokesperson for the AEMO Stuart Allott said the weekend would be easier with most industrial businesses shutting down but it was Friday afternoon, when people returned home and turned on their air conditioning, that would be the operator's main focus.
On Friday afternoon the ACT's power demand was 15 per cent higher than the same time on Thursday.
Tips for reducing demand included setting the airconditioning at 26 degrees rather than the lowest setting possible, which Mr Allott said would better moderate power supply.
"Little changes in behaviour can have a pretty significant impact on the grid," Mr Allott said.
Early Friday afternoon, the Belconnen Arts Centre decided to shut its doors immediately for the weekend to help reduce energy demand.
Chief executive Daniel Balentine said the galleries and workshops would be shut but the dance centre would still run, with the entire centre reopening Tuesday morning.
"We've got a very quiet weekend, it would be safe to close down just to do our bit," he said.
The ACT government provided tips for reducing household electricity demand, including:
- turn off electrical appliances if not in use during the day
- turn off unnecessary residential lighting
- restrict use of air conditioning (set temperature to 26 degrees or higher)
- minimise use of cooking equipment
- consolidate refrigeration and turn off unnecessary fridges
- avoid use of dishwashers, clothes dryers, vacuum cleaners and second TV
- turn off domestic pool pumping and heating operation for the day
- avoid use of TVs or computers for game purposes
Tips for businesses to reduce electricity include:
- limit the use of air conditioners to occupied spaces only and setting the thermostat to no less than 26 degrees
- turn off unnecessary interior lighting, particularly in unoccupied spaces
- turn off advertising lighting and any unnecessary exterior lighting
- turn off heating appliances for swimming pools or spas
- turn off appliances usually left in standby mode – including TVs, DVDs, videos, stereos, computers, microwave ovens, battery chargers and portable power supplies
- turn off computer hard drives and screens and only using 50 per cent or one of each type of other compliance, such as phones and faxes
- turn off water heating systems and urns during the hours of 6am and 11pm, except for food and beverage preparation and cleaning
A total fire ban was declared across the ACT for Friday and Saturday, with a severe fire danger warning on Friday as several sports clubs activated heat policies for the weekend.
All Premier Cricket on Saturday has been cancelled by Cricket ACT, due to the extreme heat.
The Showtime in the City event was also cancelled on Saturday, with only Friday evening's event running.
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