25 July 2011

Orion crews work to restore power in snow storm

Heavy snow has cut power to more households and businesses in Christchurch and central Canterbury this morning. As at 1.30pm about 2,000 customers across the Orion network region were without power due to network damage caused by the snow storm.

About 1,700 customers are currently without power in parts of Marshland and Burwood, and other areas affected include parts of Spencerville, Bishopdale, Harewood, Tai Tapu and Rolleston.

Orion crews continue to work as fast as they can in the extreme weather conditions to restore power to affected areas. About 1,000 customers in parts of Burwood, New Brighton and Mairehau lost power this morning after a tree fell on a power line. Power has now been restored to these areas and is also back on in Belfast, Sumner, Heathcote, Governors Bay, Little River and most of Spencerville.

Orion General Manager Commercial Rob Jamieson says work crews have been kept very busy making repairs overnight and this morning to get power back on. Only minor network damage has been found at this stage, mostly to overhead lines which are fast to repair.

"We urge people in Christchurch and central Canterbury to please keep off the roads as much as possible today - our crews need to be able to get through on the roads safely and quickly to restore power. If you must go out, please drive carefully," Mr Jamieson says.

The Orion website gives details of current power outages, including areas affected and estimates for power restoration - see www.oriongroup.co.nz/outages.aspx. Orion also uses Twitter to send updates about the power supply situation in Christchurch and central Canterbury - see www.twitter.com/OrionNZ

ENDS

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