Agriculture Victoria representative Martin Dunstan said the government understood the urgency of getting power back on to dairy farms.

He said his department was dealing with an offer from the federal government to provide generators and armed service personnel to help return power supplies.

United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV) president Adam Jenkins said returning power supplies to farms was important for the welfare of livestock. He said providing both single phase and three phase power supplies was proving to be a serious challenge.

Late on Monday afternoon, approximately 970 Powercor customers were still without power including Terang, Timboon, Cooriemungle, Cobden and Elingamite. Progress had been made from when the fire was at its height, with up to 20,000 customers without power on Saturday night.

A spokesman for Powercor said crews worked through Sunday night to repair infrastructure that was damaged in the fire.

“Crews have worked throughout the night and will continue today to replace poles and rebuild infrastructure damaged by fire,” the spokesperson said. “Sunday afternoon, a helicopter flew over some of the affected areas and inspected electricity infrastructure in locations inaccessible on the ground.”

Customers can also contact the Powercor call centre on 13 24 12.

There is also some good news for residents battling poor internet and phone coverage. 

Telstra has promised to set up a customer relief package for those impacted by the south-west fires. 

Many residents in affected areas have had to confront the challenges presented by the fires without internet access.