McGilvray Close in Gordon is pretty quiet, the usual sounds being ducks quacking in the nearby pond, children laughing in the playground across the road or parkrunners panting through another Saturday morning.
That's until the power was cut and a hulking great generator was brought in to keep the lights on for 129 customers, including surrounding homes and the nearby Gordon Primary School.
The generator has been running 24/7 for the last 10 days, stopping only when workmen top up the fuel.
And it's noisy. Very noisy.
A resident who lives close to the generator, which is positioned a few metres from homes, near the toilets at the Point Hut Pond Park, said the first three or four days were unbearable.
"Then we got used to it," she said.
An Evoenergy spokesperson said on Friday that power was interrupted at 12.24am on Tuesday, July 21, after "a network infrastructure fault significantly damaged a padmount transformer in Gordon".
"A full replacement is required," they said.
"To maintain supply while replacement works are prepared, Evoenergy installed a large generator to power 129 customers, including homes and the local primary school. The generator is sized to meet electricity demand of all customers.
"Evoenergy acknowledges the generator has been noisy for nearby residents. Sound barriers have been installed to help reduce noise where possible."
The Canberra Times contacted Evoenergy on Friday. A spokesperson said the generator would be removed the next day, Saturday, while a crew replaces the padmount transformer.
"Customers were sent an SMS when the generator was installed, and a further SMS was issued [Friday] morning advising of the urgent outage required between 9.30am and 4pm tomorrow [Saturday] to safely complete the repairs," the spokesperson said.
"Evoenergy acknowledges interruptions to supply are always inconvenient. The timing of these urgent repairs are taking place considering the needs of affected customers.
"The works are being carried out on the weekend to avoid disrupting the school during weekday operating hours. The timing also balances the need to complete the urgent replacement and return customers to a reliable network power supply as soon as possible."
