People Urged to be Prepared as Power off in Parts of Central Otago

Update 11am, Wednesday, 7 July - Aurora Energy Central Otago Lines Damage

Yesterday, Central Otago was hit by extreme high winds causing outages to many customers in the area. As of 11am this morning, power has been restored to all apart from a handful of customers in the Roxburgh area. For those without power, the Millers Flat Hall will continue to be available for heating, tea, coffee and toilet facilities.

We thank customers for their patience as our crews work hard to restore power and continue to assess power lines for damage. We will continue to provide updates on progress throughout the day.

Please remember to keep well clear of any downed power lines or trees on your property or the roadside and report them to us immediately by calling 0800 22 00 05. 

Update 9.15am, Wednesday, 7 July - Aurora Energy Central Otago Lines Damage

Yesterday, strong winds caused significant damage to lines in and around Roxburgh, Ettrick and Clyde.

As of 9am this morning, 85 customers are still without power in rural areas near the townships of Millers Flat and Roxburgh. For those without power, the Millers Flat Hall is available if you need warmth, tea, coffee, water and toilet facilities.

Power was restored to most customers by 10pm last night. Our contractors Delta and Connetics will continue to patrol the lines today and a helicopter crew will assist in the remote and snow-affected areas.

We thank our customers for their patience as our crews work to restore power.  We’ll continue to provide updates on progress throughout the day. 

As always, please keep well clear of any downed power lines or trees on your property or the roadside and report them to us immediately by calling 0800 22 00 05.  

Update 5.30pm, Tuesday, 6 July – Aurora Energy Central Otago Lines Damage

Further to the below public information release:

Aurora Energy contractors will be on site connecting a generator to the Millers Flat Hall from 6.30pm tonight to be used to provide warmth, tea, coffee, toilet, water and cooking facilities to residents affected by power outages in the area. This is intended to remain in place until all power is restored in this area. At this point, the outage is mostly affecting the Ettrick/Miller’s Flat, Raes Junction and surrounding rural areas. In these locations, it is more difficult for lines crews to ascertain and repair the damage to lines caused by high winds and debris earlier today. With snow forecast for Central Otago, Aurora Energy is working as fast as possible to repair lines safely, as conditions allow. To update the previous information, the areas affected are as above.

Power is back on in Clyde, Roxburgh and Omakau townships.

Further updates this evening will be available via 0800 22 00 05, our website www.auroraenergy.co.nz; and Facebook: www.facebook.com/auroraenergynz.

4.30pm, Tuesday, 6 July – Aurora Energy Central Otago Lines Damage

Following strong winds today, there is significant damage to lines in and around Roxburgh, Ettrick and Clyde, with crews working as fast as they can on repairs. Currently, around 550 customers in this area are without power, with 419 of these in the Ettrick area.

Aurora Energy at this stage expects power will need to remain off for some of these customers overnight tonight (Tuesday), and is asking people in the community to:

• Check on neighbours
• Ensure you have adequate food supplies, warm clothing and bedding, a torch, spare batteries and a battery radio
• Ensure an alternative source for heating and cooking is available
• Switch power appliances off at the wall to prevent damage when power is restored
• To report downed power lines or trees on your property or the roadside, please keep well clear of them, and contact Aurora Energy on 0800 22 00 05
• Contact Aurora Energy with any concerns you may have about this situation

Aurora and contractors are urgently sending in extra line patrols and resources to locate the damage and conduct repairs, with trees across lines in some cases. Contractors will be working into the evening.

This has been a significant weather event that has brought down trees and power lines. With a cold snap coming on, Aurora Energy urges residents to be prepared to be without power through the night, and possibly into the morning Wednesday as work continues to repair the infrastructure.

ENDS

For further information contact Aurora Energy External Relations Team, 03 742 0931

Aurora Energy is New Zealand’s seventh largest electricity network by customer connections, supplying electricity to 91,000 homes, farms and businesses in Dunedin, Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes. Aurora Energy Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dunedin City Holdings Limited, owned by the Dunedin City Council.