Easter Delivers Power Outages for Some Rotorua Customers

Friday 18 April 2014 – Some Rotorua customers have started the long weekend without power, with high winds and heavy rains causing damage to the electricity network.

Unison Customer Relations Manager, Danny Gough said pockets of outages were experienced across the network, particularly in rural areas, due mainly to trees and debris damaging lines.

“We have around 1500 customers affected in Lynmore, Owhata, Atiamuri and Lake Tarawera area. We’ve been able to back-feed supply to other areas where the network was damaged, but for some, we have to get repairs completed before we can get power restored.

“Our crews have been kept busy right across our network, from Rotorua to Central Hawke’s Bay. In some areas the amount of debris has meant we’ve had to wait until first light before we could get in to clear debris and begin restoration.”

Mr Gough said Unison’s priority was to restore supply as quickly as possible, with all available crews working fast in difficult conditions.

“We expect to restore 200 customers by mid-morning, once we complete clearing of debris and repairs around Lynmore and Owhata. Another 800 customers around Lake Tarawera will be restored later this afternoon.

“We’re keenly aware of the impact of power cuts on our customers - we’re working as quickly as we can whilst ensuring the safety of our team in the field.”

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