'Life and death': The impact of blackouts on Wodonga's most vulnerable

Blackouts have affected thousands of Wodonga residents on up to six occasions since October.

And more than 4600 homes were left without power during the most recent blackout on Wednesday, November 29.

Shirley McKernan, Wodonga resident and full-time caregiver to her daughter Matilda, said after the recent run of blackouts, she sits in fear, waiting for the next time her daughter, who has a range of complex disabilities, will be left in the dark.

"There's a lot of people who rely on power for things like oxygen machines, suction units, nebulisers and dialysis machines, who are forgotten about in these situations," she said.

"And for something like this to happen, it's a matter of life and death."

During the last blackout, Ms McKernan put Matilda straight onto bottled oxygen.

She called the Royal Children's Hospital's Complex Care Hub to warn them that she may have to seek help at any moment.

Then she called AusNet to see if the outage would last more than four or five hours (the amount of time it takes for the charge to run out on Matilda's life support machines).

This has become a regular routine.

"Once it gets to three hours, I start going, OK, we have to start moving (to the hospital)," Ms McKernan said.

"I worry if the oxygen bottles are going to last."

Ms McKernan explained the amount of oxygen Matilda needs in a night can vary, so it was hard to prepare for a blackout.

"Matilda's brain can't tell her to breathe," she said.

"Everything we take for granted, like walking, talking, breathing and feeding, she can't do. She's also got fluid spaces in her brain and it can just switch like that.

"So I've got to make sure we've got reliable equipment and supplies as backup, but we need the reliability of the energy suppliers, too."

Ms McKernan said she was sharing her story to put the energy providers on notice this summer.

And also highlight what medically impaired and elderly people have been going through in Wodonga in recent months.

"I'm one of the lucky ones because we do have backup oxygen bottles, but there are people that might be on CPAP machines where they don't have backup power sources," she said.

"So compared to some people, we're quite lucky that we have that few hours of leeway.

"But then there's still that unpredictability and stressful situation where you just don't know what's going to happen - you've just got to be ready to go."

An AusNet spokesperson said the company was conducting an investigation into the causes of the unplanned power outages that have occurred in the Wodonga underground cable network over the past month.

"We recognise that this is frustrating for our customers and the Wodonga community, and we apologise for the repeated outages," they said.

"Our engineers have made multiple attempts to fix the issue. These attempts were not related to any of the outages.

"We are now intending to fast-track work to determine a long term solution, which may be to either replace underground or above ground infrastructure."

The spokesperson said AusNet encouraged customers to have plans in place in case blackouts occur.

"Any time there is an extended outage involving a large number of customers AusNet keeps customers informed via SMS, if they have given their details to their retailer," they said.

"Life support customers are also called after 10 and 15 hours for welfare checks, however life support customers can call us on 1800 818 832 anytime, 24/7."

Following the most recent blackout, Wodonga residents expressed their anger and frustration on social media.

Sheree Clampit said it had become impossible to keep up with the explanations provided to residents.

"We keep getting told different things," she said.

"The power will go on and off multiple times and it's starting to drag on now."

Ms Clampit said she had been affected at least five times in a month.

"I have a small child at home, and with the heat and the power going out it's very frustrating," she said.

"We lodge a complaint and just get told 'sorry for any inconvenience'.

"I'm thinking, well, it's happened to thousands of homes in Wodonga but it's 'just a minor inconvenience, no big deal'.

"But it is, and it matters that it gets resolved."

It was a similar situation for Derek Robinson, who described power company AusNet as "useless and totally inept".

Mr Robinson said that as someone in his 70s, it was very concerning when the power went out.

"We've had six so far. I know they're doing work underground but it's very annoying," he said.

"I've just had to spend money at Bunnings to get some battery-operated wall lights because we can't get around in complete blackness.

"The state government should be spending money on fixing the issue."

Sandy Wheeler said the latest power cut was "absolutely dreadful", while fellow resident Trish Carter pointed out it was a case of "Heaven help us when summer hits".

Another Wodonga resident, who did not want to be identified, said what was disappointing was the number of times it happened in the evening when people were at home with their families.

"Why can't it happen during the day when people are at work or school?" he said.

"It happens right in the middle when you're cooking dinner for the kids, or washing the clothes or trying to relax after a long day.

"I understand why it's happening, but I don't understand how it happens over and over and over again."