Statement From Transpower Chief Executive

On Thursday 20 June Transpower’s service provider in the Auckland and Northland regions, Omexom, had a crew completing routine maintenance on a tower near Glorit. 

Part of that maintenance included work on the base plates which secure the tower to the ground. 

Our view is that the specifications and procedures for this type of work were not followed. All the nuts securing the tower to the base plate on three legs have been removed which has caused the tower to lift off the base plate and fall.

It is unprecedented and inconceivable that so many nuts were removed at once.

We have appointed an external party to undertake a full investigation into the cause of the fallen tower. While not complete, the investigation is now at a point where we can release some information, acknowledging the significant public and media interest in what caused the tower to fall.

While we are very grateful that no one was hurt when the tower fell, the failure to follow procedure resulted in a significant power outage that had a real impact on the people of Northland. 

The ongoing investigation will look in more detail at what happened and why the correct procedures were not followed. 

We are committed to learning from this event and implementing any additional controls that may be identified.

Finally, we know it is never easy to be without electricity and we know that Northland has been through a lot in recent years. We also know it’s a resilient part of New Zealand and we’d like to extend our thanks to local communities and leaders, civil defence and our lines company partners and local generators for their support and assistance.

I would also like to thank the Transpower staff, service provider crews, design engineers and everyone who has put in a massive effort to get the power back on for the region. A huge thanks also to the landowner and Glorit community.

© Scoop Media