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Northland power outage affects tens of thousands
Northland power outage affects tens of thousands of customers
Power has been cut to almost 90,000 customers across Northland and north of Breams Bay this morning, power companies say.
The extent of the Northland power outage. Photo: Supplied / Top Energy
Northpower said most of the 60,000 properties it supplies - about 48,000 - were affected, and Top Energy in the Far North said 32,000 of its customers were without power.
Transpower said one high-voltage circuit into Northland was down for maintenance when the other tripped about 9.30am.
It said it was not known what caused the circuit to trip.
Homes would be without electricity for at least two hours, it said.
RNZ's radio transmitters from Whangarei north are also without power.
Refining New Zealand said it had also been affected by the outage.
In a statement, it said: "The plant has been safely shut down with no injuries and no identified damage to processing units, and with safety critical systems being maintained by emergency back up power.
"During these processes flaring will occur as a mechanism to vent refining gasses safely as the processing units are depressurised."
Northpower said crews were working hard to reconnect people, with priority to Whangarei hospital and emergency services.
The Whangarei District Council said it was not clear when power would be restored so was urging people to conserve water and avoid flushing toilets.
The council's water supply and sewer systems require power.
Traffic lights are also out in the region.
The council's infrastructure general manager Simon Weston said the less stress placed on those systems, the easier recovery would be when power is restored.
Power is out for Dargaville, Maungatapere, Poroti, all of Whangarei, as well as all areas North to Hukerenui including, East Coast between Whangarei Heads to Bland Bay. Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
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