MEDIA RELEASE
Friday, March 30, 2007

Interruption to Tauranga Power Supply – 6pm Update

Power supply to approximately 7,000 consumers in and around Tauranga has been interrupted today following an outage at two inner city substations.

Powerco Network Co-ordination Manager Phil Marsh said the outages were caused by a cable fault and occurred at approximately 11.50am.

Supply to most customers was restored by 12.20pm by backfeeding, with full supply to all customers being restored by 12.30pm.

Areas affected included Judea, Parkvale, Tauranga Central and Tauranga South.

“A cable fault caused the outage and field crews are now working to repair the fault,” Mr Marsh said. The cable is expected to be re-livened at 6:00pm this evening.

Supply to most parts of the Tauranga CBD was restored within a few minutes of the incident via a backup supply from Mt Maunganui.

However there was a short delay in restoring supply to the remaining customers as the main backup supply from Greerton had been isolated as a safety precaution while planned earthworks were being carried out adjacent to the cable.

“Safety is essential to Powerco. Checks needed to be made that all workers were clear of the cable and all safety precautions followed before the backup cable could be recalled back into service,” Mr Marsh said.

“Powerco thanks customers for their patience during this unexpected outage. Work will continue to repair the fault and investigate how it occurred.”

Powerco is New Zealand’s second largest electricity and second largest gas distribution utility with around 400,000 consumers connected to its networks. Powerco’s electricity networks are in Tauranga, Thames, Coromandel, Eastern and Southern Waikato, Taranaki, Wanganui, Rangitikei, Manawatu and the Wairarapa. Its gas pipeline networks are in Taranaki, Hutt Valley, Porirua, Wellington, Horowhenua, Manawatu and the Hawke’s Bay.

ENDS

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