Severe storm power restoration 11am update
Crews are out in force again today as work continues to reconnect Powerco customers affected by recent wild weather.
Powerco Head of Network Operations, Caz Haydon says while conditions are improving, wind is expected to continue to impact reconnection work.
“Winds of up to 120km are forecast throughout the day in exposed areas of the Tararua and Wairarapa regions of our network where our crews are out reconnecting customers. Ground conditions are also soft due to the rainfall,” she says.
“We may also see new outages due to the ongoing wind. Crews will be working where they can, but safety remains our top priority.”
Extra crews have been deployed in the worst-affected areas, with 35 active crews working around the Manawatū and Tararua today.
With wind abating in the Whanganui region a helicopter will be used to re-string 2.5km of high voltage lines across the Whanganui River.
Caz Haydon thanks customers for their ongoing patience.
“We know it’s frustrating to be out for an extended period of time, and our crews are working as quickly and as safely as they can to reconnect everyone.”
Overall, 25,246 customers have been impacted by the weather event.
There are currently 806 customers still without power, with the Manawatū and Whanganui the most affected. Crews are attending both high-voltage faults affecting multiple customers - those outages are viewable on the outages page - and low-voltage outages affecting individual customers (for instance, where their service line has come down due to wind or something blowing into it).
Current outage totals are:
- 405 Manawatū customers
- 226 Whanganui customers
- 151 Taranaki customers
- 10 Wairarapa customers
- 8 Bay of Plenty customers
- 6 Thames/Coromandel customers
Approximately 310 of those outages are low-voltage.
Current outages affecting ten customers or more can be found on Powerco’s website here
Restoration times are an estimate only.
Powerco reminds customers that if people come across downed lines they should stay well away and phone the 24/7 emergency line on 0800 27 27 27, or emergency services on 111.