Summary of Transpower Grid Emergency
Power supply to Northpower customers was interrupted yesterday when Transpower lost two transmission circuits south of Auckland at a time when the Otahuhu Generation Station was also off line, this constrained the supply to Auckland and Northland. The major cause of the disruption was a fire sparked by pylons in a shelterbelt of trees.
Northpower was initially directed to reduce load by 10% at 3:30 pm. We were subsequently asked to reduce load by a further 10% at 4:24 pm. Initial indications from Transpower were that supply would resume at 7:00pm (at 6:50pm this was incorrectly revised to 11:00 pm).
Golden Bay Cement and the New Zealand Refining Company were contacted by our staff and voluntarily reduced load to assist with the situation.
We commenced rolling cuts at 6:50 pm believing at that time the event was going to extend into the night, however the supply was fully restored at 7:13 pm (excluding hot water load). In total 23,009 (42%) of our customers were affected.
Customers who phoned our 0800 10 40 40 fault number were kept informed with regular half hour recorded updates on the situation.
Media Contact
For more information please contact:
Steve Macmillan
Public Affairs Manager
Phone: 09 978 2903
Mobile: 029 770 4693
Email Steve
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