Easter Delivers Power Outages for Some Hawke’s Bay Customers

Friday 18 April 2014 – Some Hawke’s Bay 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 customers affected in Kahuranaki and Tongoio, as well as Sherenden and Tutira. We’ve been able to backfeed supply to some of these areas, but for others, we will 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 trees down 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 have around 30 repairs to complete in the Kaharunaki area, which may take some time. We’re keenly aware of the need to get power restored to our customers, and we’re working as quickly as we can whilst ensuring the safety of our team in the field.”

Important information sources:
To report a fault of damage to the network, call 0800 2 UNISON
Learn more about Safety around fallen power lines - http://www.unison.co.nz/safety/fallenpowerlines
Make sure you are prepared to cope without power - http://www.unison.co.nz/safety/electricity-outages

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