Essential Energy has provided an update this morning about restoring power to customers in the Northern Rivers.

Essential Energy crews worked throughout yesterday (23 January) afternoon and overnight to restore as many customers as possible given the challenging conditions after a storm cell ripped through the Northern Rivers and Far North Coast.

Additional crews from Grafton, Maclean and Ballina plus helicopters have been brought into the area to assist with the continuing effort to assess damage to the network in areas with rugged terrain or that are inaccessible after the storm.

Crews are working to clean up debris in and around the powerlines to make it safe for the power to be restored. There are also numerous poles and wires that require repair, along with broken crossarms and conductors.

While crews have made great strides in restoring power to around 12,300 customers, it is expected that full restoration may take several days to complete due to access and the number of faults across the network.

As at 5.30am, there are around 2,800 customers that remain without power. The most impacted areas include the communities and surrounding areas of Nimbin, Murwillumbah and Mullumbimby.

Our website outages page is being updated with estimated restoration times as they become known.