Sparks or flames up a pole?
That's a pole top fire, and it's Western Power's to deal with. Keep well back, treat any fallen line as live from at least 8 metres away, and ring 13 13 51. If anyone's in danger, call 000 first.
Rockingham, electrically speaking
Right on Cockburn Sound
Rockingham faces Mangles Bay at the southern end of Cockburn Sound. Pole top fires start when light rain or humidity mixes with salt, dust and pollution on insulators, and Western Power is trialling silicone treatment of insulators in the cities of Cockburn, Rockingham and Swan.
Villas from the 1970s, towers since
By the 1970s Rockingham was a place for modest retirement villas, and some older beachside shops have since become high-rise units. In 2021, 20.1% of homes were townhouses or similar and 14.1% flats or apartments.
Holiday homes and renters
13.9% of the 8,399 private dwellings stood empty on census night, and 36.8% of occupied ones were rented. The median age was 49.
Underground power in the pipeline
The City of Rockingham is one of nine councils in Western Power's Targeted Underground Power Program, announced in June 2023. Ask the City whether your street is included.
The work Rockingham homes tend to need
A villa's first proper switchboard. A board from the 1970s may still have rewireable fuses and no safety switch at all. WA requires RCDs protecting all power and lighting circuits, at least two of them, before a home's title is transferred, so a sale is often when this gets done. See switchboard upgrades in Perth.
Holiday lets. Building and Energy says short-term rental accommodation must have RCDs at the switchboard before guests stay. Smoke alarms in a rented or hired-out home must be mains-powered, working and no more than 10 years old.
Units by the beach. In a high-rise or townhouse complex, check with the strata company before changing anything that connects to a shared board.
If it were our beach house
Before the first guest arrives, we'd have one electrician check the switchboard, the RCDs and the smoke alarms in a single visit, and keep the Electrical Safety Certificate with your rental paperwork. And if the power drops after a light shower that follows a dry spell, check Western Power's outage information before calling anyone. That pattern points to the network.
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.