Electricity Outages

WIDER AREA OUTAGES

If your surrounding area is experiencing an outage, it may be the result of an area fault on the local network supplying the embedded network. If this is the case, restoration is unfortunately beyond our control. Please check the following local network websites to see if your wider area is experiencing an outage. If there are no faults reported that would affect your location, please call 0508 667 693.

MEDICALLY DEPENDENT CUSTOMERS

There are many reasons that power outages may occur and unfortunately we can’t guarantee that power will be available 100% of the time, or how long it may take to restore.

If you use medical equipment that relies on electricity it’s important that you let your electricity retailer know and that your household has an emergency plan in place. You must take responsibility for ensuring that other power sources such as a generator or battery backup are available during a power outage or that you can temporarily relocate to an alternative location (such as a friend or family’s house) that has power. Your local health provider can also help you to find out what your options are during the outage, a full list of New Zealand District Health Boards is available on The Ministry of Health. website. 

If you ever feel your health is at risk due to a power outage, call 111 or get to a hospital. When power cuts are planned, for example to work on power lines, we’ll give you advanced notice wherever possible.   

PREPARATION AT HOME

While we (or electricity retailers) notify customers in advance for planned outages, there is always a chance that you may be affected by an unplanned outage. It’s a good idea to be prepared in case the power goes out.

Here are some handy tips: 

• Keep your mobile phone charged and consider having a spare battery or mobile power pack.
• Have a torch and spare batteries handy.
• Store cooking fuel, such as gas for your BBQ.
• Consider using a surge protection device to protect appliances such as the TV or computer from power interruption.
• Water pumps in rural areas may not work when the power is off. To prepare, make sure you store emergency water supplies for drinking and washing.
• Contact your house alarm provider to ensure you have backup battery supply during an outage.
• If you have electric doors on your garage or live in an electrically gated area, check you know how to manually override it.