Northpower Electricity Supply Situation - 13/7

Date: Friday 13th July 2007 11am

Subject: Northpower Electricity Supply Situation

The situation continues to improve dramatically. We currently have 995 customers still affected by Northpower line faults and 800 individual customer faults.

Most of the main network lines are now working. There are still pockets in remote areas that will take us into the weekend to restore, however access is improving. We have a large number of field staff now working on individual customer faults.

It is almost impossible to estimate restoration times for individual customers so we thank customers for being patient. With a major focus now on individual customer faults we should make a big impact today. We do have crews in the rural areas restoring farms. If you do not have power by mid morning on Saturday, we ask you to contact us.

We have 150 field staff plus support workers working around the clock. All our crews from other districts will remain in the area until all customers are restored. This is 3 times the staff normally engaged in fieldwork.

Everybody is reminded to keep clear of power lines which are low or on the ground. All such lines must be treated as being live at all times. We ask people to ensure all electrical appliances are turned off for when power is restored. Parents are asked to closely supervise children near any low or downed power lines.

ENDS

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