About 1000 Lake Cathie customers were affected by an unplanned power outage at about 2pm on January 14 after a storm. 

Essential Energy North Coast community relations manager Rachel Hussell said power was restored to all but 161 customers later that night.

A generator was sourced to restore power to the 161 customers on January 15 and the last customers were connected at 9.30pm.

Julia and Charles Watkins live on Shearwater Court said that they are disappointed with the amount of time it took for Essential Energy to respond to the incident. 

The couple’s house normally runs off solar power and they are concerned they will be issued with a large bill to pay for the electricity they are using, due to a generator provided by Essential Energy. 

Rod Streeter lives on Lakeside Way and said his family is often required to carry around torches and candles.  

The residents said they want to be better informed if there is a power outage. 

One resident said many residents weren’t notified. They said without phone coverage they are literally being ‘left in the dark’ about the situation. 

Mr Streeter’s wife Deb runs a business from home and relies on access to internet and power to operate. Mrs Streeter said that she is potentially losing thousands of dollars due to the lack of essential services. 

Rachel Hussell said Essential Energy crews responded immediately on January 14 and located an underground fault. 

As a general rule, she said, it is not Essential Energy’s policy to supply alternative generation during an outage.

“The company encourages all customers to have a contingency plan for when the power does goes out, either during a storm or for planned work,” she said. 

Essential Energy crews are continuing with repairs. 

Ms Hussell said extra testing of the underground cable is being undertaken to reduce the risk of further disruptions to the power supply.