Millicent has just endured its second consecutive weekend of power blackouts.

A scheduled maintenance upgrade took place in Millicent and environs at various times on Saturday and Sunday and so the power supply was deliberately cut by SA Power Networks.

Around 500 properties were affected each day with outages lasting between 90 minutes and seven hours.

There were seven properties which had power outages on both days.

The latest cuts followed an unexplained power outage lasting around two hours mid-morning on Sunday, August 8 which affected 7000 farms, houses and businesses between Tantanoola and Mount Benson.

SA Power Networks advised its Millicent customers of the scheduled maintenance upgrade via direct mail and its website.

This enabled businesses to make decisions about trading arrangements and advise their customers.

For example, Millicent Newsagency decided not to open on Saturday.

The Medical Clinic Millicent adjusted its consulting hours on Saturday and these were matched by Millicent Chemist and Giftware to enable scripts to be dispensed.

Woolworths brought in a portable generator to supply its power requirement while Fosters Foodland switched to its on-site generator when the outage took effect on Saturday.

One Millicent business operator has asked why the business sector upgrade could not have taken place on Sunday when most premises are shut.

This query was put by The SE Voice to SA Power Networks media spokesman Paul Roberts.

He said this was not possible as the power supply system to Millicent had feeder lines which served both business and residential customers.

“We were able to combine a number of maintenance tasks such as equipment replacement,” Mr Roberts said.