Power lines down, or water through the house?
Stay at least eight metres from fallen lines and anything touching them, and call Essential Energy on 13 20 80 at any hour, or 000 if a life is at risk. After a flood, Essential Energy advises having licensed professionals check the installation before anything is switched back on. The SES takes storm and flood calls on 132 500.
Tweed Heads, the NSW side
NSW's northernmost town
Tweed Heads sits at the mouth of the Tweed River beside the Queensland border, in the Tweed Shire council area.
Essential Energy's network
Essential Energy is the distributor for the Northern Rivers. Alfred left more than 38,000 homes and businesses across the Northern Rivers and Far North Coast without power in March 2025, with the worst network damage between Tweed Heads and Yamba.
Floods
Tweed Shire Council said the February 2022 flood damaged more than 2,100 properties across the shire and left about 500 uninhabitable. Debbie flooded parts of the shire in 2017.
Units and retirees
At the 2021 Census, 44.2% of homes were flats or apartments and 30.2% townhouses or semis; 41.2% were owned outright and the median age was 55. Wikipedia counts 14 retirement villages in the area.
An old town
The township began before 1865, and by 1915 there were about 1000 people and 220 buildings.
Older meter boards
Essential Energy says homes built before 1988 may have a meter board containing bonded asbestos, that the board belongs to the property owner, and that nobody without the right electrical qualifications should work on it.
In an older home, tell the electrician the board may contain asbestos and ask how they'll manage it before work starts. Black or dark brown backing boards made before 1987 are the ones to watch. Asbestos switchboards explains the options.
The NSW paperwork
A CCEW is required for any installation, repair, addition or alteration, including like-for-like swaps, and the electrician must submit it within 7 days of finishing. Since 1 July 2026 it goes through Building Commission NSW's eCert portal, which can email you a copy. Certificates of compliance covers what to look for.
Check the licence on Service NSW's licence check, or on Verify NSW, before work starts. Work on the service line from the network belongs to a Level 2 Accredited Service Provider.
Our take for Tweed Heads
If the home is older and you're planning anything at the board, we'd ask the electrician to confirm in writing whether the meter board contains asbestos and how they'll handle it. After any flood, we'd wait for a licensed test before switching back on, even if the lights seem fine.
Want a specialist to sort it?
Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.