THOUSANDS of homes and a major shopping centre are without power after widespread blackouts hit Melbourne's east.
Kallista, Macclesfield, Olinda, Sassafras, Sherbrooke, Upper Ferntree Gully, Ferny Creek and Upwey were hit by the power outages, according to power authority SP Ausnet.
Other suburbs in the Yarra Ranges have been blacked out in a series of planned outages.
Unplanned outages have spread to areas of Knox including Scoresby, The Basin, Wantirna and Wantirna South.
The areas are not expected to be fixed until as late as 5pm.
The blackouts come as electricity suppliers struggle to cope with the return of schools and businesses for the start of the year.
Radio station 3AW is reporting that power was lost to 16,000 properties in Melbourne's east, excluding the hills.
According to the radio station, a major shopping centre has been shut down and thousands of Melbourne homes are without power after what has been called a major power failure.
The power went out at Waverley Gardens shopping centre at Mulgrave about 9.15am and shoppers were evacuated.
"They're saying something major has happened at the power station," caller 'Maria' told the station.
Surrounding suburbs also had their power cut, extending as far north as Greensborough.
Traffic lights are out on several major roads, causing traffic chaos.
There have also been several reports of pole fires and fallen power lines.
The cause of all the outages is not totally known, although the MFB has confirmed it responded to power pole fires.
The first fire was at Mulgrave about 7.30am, where embers were spreading after a large "popping noise".
There was another power pole fire at Clayton about 9am.
"I think it's a coincidence, just a bit of bad luck," MFB spokeswoman Meg Rayner said.
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