Crews working to restore supply to remaining weather-affected customers

2.30pm Sunday 

Powerco field crews are working to restore power supply to several hundred customers after a storm went through the North Island on Saturday evening.

At the peak of the weather event, at 7.30pm last evening, 3,839 customers throughout Powerco’s electricity network area were without power.

Power has since been restored to most of the customers whose supply was affected by severe winds, branches and tress through power lines and lightning strikes to network electricity equipment.

One of the tricker faults to fix because of the difficult access, has been in Pukeokahu near Taihape, where 56 customers lost supply after a tree went through power lines.

In Wairapapa, a lightning strike blew fuses on the electricity network causing power to be lost to 287 properties in the Upper Plain Rd area between Masterton and Kaituna at 7.15pm on Saturday. The damage to the electrical network from the strike was extensive, with transformer and line fuses needing to be replaced before the supply can be re-livened. Crews are currently still working to restore supply.

In Western Bay of Plenty, power was cut to 53 customers at 3.08pm yesterday after trees went through power lines at three different locations near Paengaroa. Crews are currently still working to restore supply.

Meanwhile, power is currently out to 146 customers in and around Westown and Frankleigh Park, New Plymouth, after a tree, believed to have been loosened in the high winds during the past few days, fell onto power lines and a pole on Glenpark Ave early this afternoon. Power was initially cut to 1827 customers just before 1pm but was restored to most affected by 1.43pm. Tree contractors will be required to remove the tree from the lines before repairs can be made and power restore.

Powerco thanks customers for their patience and understanding as crews worked as quickly and safely as possible to make repairs and restore power to all affected customers.

Customers wanting information about power cuts can go to Powerco’s power outage webpage www.powerco.co.nz/outages or can contact their electricity retailer.