Following weeks of power instability in Far West New South Wales, the federal government has announced up to 13 weeks of income support for impacted locals.

The money will offer some relief to those who lost work, including miners and hospitality staff.

Thousands of people were left in the dark when a freak storm rolled through the region in mid-October, knocking down seven transmission towers.

Community members have continued to grapple with ongoing outages since that time.

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) and the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) are both investigating power provider Transgrid over the blackout.

Transgrid has formally apologised for the blackouts and announced $500,000 in new grants for community organisations and not-for-profit groups in the region.

Power to be reconnected tonight

The company has confirmed that the region's power will be reconnected to the grid overnight, five days earlier than expected. 

However, the switchover from backup generators to the grid will see communities outside of Broken Hill experience another outage that could last up to three hours.

Broken Hill is not expected to experience outages during the switchover.

A spokesperson for Essential Energy said the company was planning to carry out the work tonight to limit the impact.

The spokesperson added they would aim to contact any affected customers in advance.

The entire Far West community is advised to keep their power usage to a minimum from 5:30pm until the early hours of Friday morning.

Who is eligible for financial support?

The government has said the Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA) was designed to support employees or sole traders who lost income because of the storm and subsequent power outages.

These outages had ongoing impacts on residents in Broken Hill, the Central Darling Shire, as well as unincorporated areas across the Far West.

Eligible workers will be able to claim up to 13 weeks of income support.

NSW Minister for Emergency Management, Jenny McAllister, encouraged locals to check their eligibility on the Services Australia website.

"We want to see people who've been without income or who've experienced a significant reduction in income be supported during this really difficult time," she said.

Applications for the allowance have opened on the Services Australia website.

Locals are also reminded that if they need help to make a claim through myGov, they can contact the Australian Government Emergency Information Line on 180 22 66.

Recently announced government grants of $200 and $400 for affected residents and businesses will be made available from next week.

An apology and extra funding

Transgrid has issued a formal apology to communities across the Far West.

In a statement provided to the ABC, the company said it sincerely apologised to the "impacted communities of Far West NSW" for the outages.

At last night's council meeting, Broken Hill Mayor Tom Kennedy demanded that the power company apologise to the community and offer more adequate compensation.

While Transgrid stopped short of agreeing to provide official compensation, they did announce an additional $500,000 in grants for community organisations and not-for-profit groups in Far West NSW.

Various local charities, including Vinnes, the Red Cross and Salvation Army, have supported those affected by providing food hampers and vouchers in recent weeks.

The funding will come under Trangrid's Community Partnerships Program, which will launch in the Far West next week.

In a statement, Transgrid's head of Far West operations response, Sam Pickering, said they would continue to work with the government and key stakeholders "to provide further support beyond the recovery period".