Powerco working to reconnect customers following wild weather - 9am update

Powerco crews are out in force this morning reconnecting customers after high winds, lightning and heavy rain caused widespread outages across its network overnight.

Approximately 9,215 customers remain without power as at 9am Saturday morning, with Wairarapa currently hit hardest with 7,781 customers without power. This includes some 5,800 customers impacted by a Transpower outage at Greytown that is affecting much of the lower Wairarapa.

There are also 753 customers without power in the Coromandel, Thames, Waihi and South Waikato areas combined, 413 in Whanganui, 151 in Taranaki, 95 in the Manawatū, and 22 in the Bay of Plenty.

Powerco Head of Network Operations Caz Haydon says crews are progressing with work as quickly and safely as possible to clear debris and restore power to customers.

“We’re doing everything we can to get customers reconnected as quickly and safely as possible, but conditions have been challenging with wind and rain making it unsafe to scale ladders to access pole tops. In some areas, there’s also work to remove trees, branches and other debris before power can be restored.

“We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding.”

In the event of an emergency such as lines coming down, people should stay well clear of lines and call Powerco’s emergency line on 0800 27 27 27 which operates 24/7.