Echuca goes off-grid for a morning, cause identified

By Jemma Jones

Mar 26, 2026

A bird strike has been confirmed as the cause of Wednesday's major power outage that left most of Echuca without electricity on March 25.

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At 9.50am, just as the working day began, power was cut to 2634 Powercor customers across Echuca, Echuca Village, lower Moira and Yambuna.

Businesses and community groups across the region were affected, with local radio station EMFM forced off-air throughout the outage.

Hare St became a ghost town as cafés, banks and retail stores were forced to close during the blackout.

Speaking to The Riv, a Powercor representative confirmed the cause of the outage was a bird that had flown into a power line in Echuca.

Crews responding to the outage managed to isolate the fault, bringing power back online for most around the region.

At about 11.49am, residents began reporting power restoration, with only about 114 customers still without electricity.

Landsborough St residents continued to experience difficulties into the afternoon.

By 4.30pm, repair work was completed, the bird was removed and full power had been restored across the region.

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