More than 14,000 customers were affected by 87 avoidable energy outages in 2018, an increase on the previous year, Evoenergy has said.
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In 2017, there were 68 unplanned energy outages.
The electricity grid operator has reminded Canberrans to take care during extreme weather events, with one customer calling through during a recent storm to report fallen power lines next to her swimming pool, minutes after she had left the water.
Evoenergy branch manager Clinton McAlister said unplanned outages were often out of the control of the electricity operator but it was important for people to take action to prevent unnecessary power cuts.
"During January the severe storms in Canberra caused multiple power cuts. Some of these could
have been avoided if untrimmed trees on private property had not fallen onto overhead
powerlines," he said.
Mr McAlister said crews often worked during extreme weather events to restore power quickly.
Trees needed to be kept at least 1.5 metres away from powerlines and in the event of any damage to electricity infrastructure it was best to keep away because damaged equipment can still conduct electricity, he said.
In January, 2CC and ABC Radio Canberra had their radio transmissions interrupted when trees fell and took out powerlines. Power lines went down in Narrabundah, Hughes, Fisher, Flynn and Kaleen.
