The unplanned outage affected some 7600 customers across the Hastings, west of the donut, and in Kempsey and Crescent Head.

A spokesperson said the outage started at 5.45pm when safety equipment, on the high voltage network, detected a fault, automatically turning power off until the line could be patrolled  for hazards.

“Crews patrolled the line while a second crew re-routed power around the network to get it back on for customers,” the spokesperson said.

“Power was restored to customers just before 7pm.

“Investigations of the line showed a fault near the Rocks Ferry Zone Substation at Wauchope which has since been repaired.”