Cyclone Gabrielle Update - 23/02/23
Published 23 February 2023
Northpower extends a huge thank you to our community for their understanding and patience as we continue to work hard to reconnect all those affected by power outages from the Cyclone.
We know it is tough for the remaining people who still don’t have power, and our teams have been working around the clock to get the power back up and running.
We have made huge progress over the last day or so and are now down to 64 customers affected by high voltage faults on our main network lines and around 650 customers with localised low voltage issues, including damage to their service lines.
Last night crews that have been working all week in Pouto were able to liven the main line that runs all the way to the end of the peninsula. This is a huge achievement considering the extensive damage in that area. Work is still in progress in Kellys Bay, and we hope to have the 42 customers there back on by the end of the weekend.
Work continues on high-voltage lines to enable livening of the 22 remaining connections affected by the damage in the Hikurangi, Pipiwai, Maungauroto, and Ruawai areas.
We started the day yesterday with over 1000 jobs to address on our low-voltage network. We managed to resolve 450 of these. With 650 to go, our team is out in full force today working through both no-power and part-power issues.
This can be due to a range of issues from damage to poles and cross arms, including badly damaged customer lines, through to simpler fixes such as transformer fuses or pole fuses.
We continue to bolster the workforce focused on the low voltage issues. As crews become available from the larger jobs, they are being re-assigned to focus low voltage localised faults.
The teams will continue to work long hours through the weekend as we are determined to get everyone connected as quickly and safely as possible.
If your neighbours have power but you do not, please call us on 0800 10 40 40 to ensure we know about your fault.
Our website northpower.com/gabrielle has a lot of information and an interactive map where you can enter your address to check on the status of your job ticket.
Understandably we are receiving calls from customers wanting to know whether Northpower will fix all the broken lines that supply their houses.
In general, our network is outside of the customer boundary, and customer lines run from our pole on the boundary into the customer premise. We will reattach any lines that have come off-network poles on the roadside.
However, if the lines on your own property are damaged it’s important to arrange that fix with a qualified company. We have added a guide to our website to help customers understand issues that they may need to get attended to themselves, along with a list of approved contractors. If customers are unable to get a contractor to help them, we may have resources in the next week to undertake this work.
Please contact our customer centre if you would like more information on this or are unsure about who is responsible for fixing the damage.
As we are livening up our main lines, we have noticed many people have been cutting trees near the lines. Please do not go near the lines to cut trees and keep 4 meters from any line, without contacting us first for a safety disconnection. If you have a tree in or near our lines, please call us at 0800 10 40 40.
It is important to keep safe while working around both overhead and underground lines. Even though you may not have power to your place, it could come back on at any time. Please do not undertake any work near lines or digging near cables without first getting us to complete a cable location and safety disconnection.
Please call us on 0800 10 40 40 before you undertake any work near lines.
We would like to thank the Northland community for their patience, and their support for our staff in the field. All of these staff have been working long days for over a week now to restore power, and they are appreciative of the patience and appreciation showed by the community as they focus on getting power for all.
