Around 50 properties to remain without power until Sunday

“Our crews have done an incredible job today, and we’re pleased that we will have restored power to around 150 individual properties by the end of today,” said Matt Settle, General Manager Future Network and Operations.

However, vegetation-related damage, particularly trees breaking power lines, has slowed progress, and around 50 households will remain without power until tomorrow.

“We’ve had 13 crews, including additional support, working since early this morning and they’ll finish up around 6pm this evening, before commencing again tomorrow morning. We’re sorry we couldn’t get everyone’s power restored today as we’d hoped to, but the complexity of some of the repairs has presented challenges.”

Aurora Energy’s Customer Experience Team will attempt to contact customers who will not have their power back on tonight, but may not be able to reach everyone.

“For anyone who does not have their power back after 6pm, please know our crews will be out again tomorrow morning and we expect to have all final repairs made on Sunday. If your power remains off and you don't hear from us this evening, please call us on 0800 22 00 05 to report your outage as we may not have a record of it.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the patience and understanding shown by our customers. The volume of separate fault calls, right from Berwick to the tip of the Otago Peninsula, hasn’t been seen on our Dunedin network before and our crews have been working long hours over the last three days to restore as many customers as possible,” Matt said.

Safety information:
• Charge your phone and have power banks ready
• Keep torches handy
• If the power is out, switch off appliances at the wall to avoid possible damage when power is restored
• Stay well clear of damaged power lines and treat them as live at all times. To report downed lines or trees in power lines call Aurora Energy on 0800 22 00 05

More information about preparing for and staying safe during power outages is available on Aurora Energy’s website: Aurora Energy power outages

ENDS