Crews continue to work to restore power to affected customers

Powerco fault crews have been out in force again today working to restore power to thousands of customers affected by the recent wild weather.

At the peak of the last two days, Powerco recorded a total number of 11,000 customers who were without power across its network.

Crews have worked as quickly and safety as possible to reconnect customers, reducing the number of outages to around 290 which are mainly in central and southern parts of Taranaki, as at 7.30pm today.

Restoring power to those who are still affected is a priority, General Manager Service Delivery and System Operations Ian Skipworth says.

“The weather we experienced on Saturday caused extensive damage to our network and the conditions have continued to pose challenges today. Our crews have been working hard to fix faults, which has included clearing a significant amount of vegetation and other debris to be able to reconnect the power.

“We are doing everything we can to restore supply to those who are still without power. We want to thank our customers for their understanding and appreciation for the fact we are doing our best in these trying conditions,” Ian Skipworth says.

For safety reasons, Powerco will stand its crews down for the evening at 9pm, except for those who will respond to emergencies during the night, and will start work again in the morning.

For current outage information, including estimated restoration times, customers are advised to check Powerco’s outage map available at https://outagemap.powerco.co.nz/outagesandfaults/

Powerco reminds people that if anyone comes across downed lines, keep yourself, your children and livestock well away and, once safe, call Powerco’s 24/7 emergency line on 0800 27 27 27.