Power outages continue overnight for some Dunedin residents

“Due to the scale of storm damage on our electricity network, particularly in Dunedin, some customers will not get their power restored this evening. While we are doing everything we can to restore supply to as many homes as possible tonight, some outages will extend into Friday,” said Matt Settle, Aurora Energy General Manager Future Network and Operations.

“Our fault crews will continue working as long as possible this evening but will eventually be stood down overnight to manage fatigue and ensure they are ready to continue in the morning. At this stage, we’re unable to confirm which customers will be affected overnight. We’ll provide updates on our website and Facebook page later this evening as more information becomes available,” said Matt.

A reduced level of fault crew will remain on call overnight to respond to emergencies, with full repair efforts resuming from 8:00am Friday.

“At the peak of today’s storm, more than 16,000 customers across our Otago network were without power. We’re sorry we can’t restore supply to everyone today, but we’ll be back at first light to continue repairs,” Matt added.

Due to the high volume of outages, Aurora Energy’s website has experienced delays in updating outage information. Their IT team is working urgently to resolve this.

“Our control room has been extremely busy today and even if a fault isn’t showing on our website, it’s likely we’re aware of it, but if it’s not there tomorrow please let us know,” said Matt.

Safety information:
• Stay up to date with weather warnings and safety advice
• Charge your phone and have power banks ready
• Keep torches handy
• If the power does go 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