Two weeks on from the storm which tore through Southland and Otago, PowerNet staff have managed to restore power to almost all customers. Just 65 customers remain without power.

PowerNet Chief Executive Paul Blue said the devastation to our power networks was significant and he’s proud of the way our team rallied to repair it and restore power to so many customers within two weeks.

“Immediately after the storm we had more than 50,000 customers without power, there were poles down everywhere, trees on lines and lines lying on the ground.

“Our crews, supported by crews from electricity distribution companies around the country, have worked tirelessly to repair the damage and get power back to our customers around Southland and Clutha. Most importantly this work was caried out without serious harm to our team or the public.”

Mr Blue said the level of support had been impressive – from colleagues, contractors and the communities we serve.

“When we put out the call to the electricity industry for help, it was answered very quickly, and we are really grateful. Crews arrived from around the country within days. The response was also supported by many contractors and suppliers who did everything they could to assist the restoration including traffic management, tree removal and sourcing a huge number of supplies to rebuild our networks.

“Meanwhile our community has shown amazing grace and gratitude throughout a difficult time, and we’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity shown to our teams.

“Those gifts of food, thank you cards, and kind words expressed in person and online, have kept the spirits of our staff high as they battled through.

“I’m also very proud of all our staff who have made themselves available for the last two weeks and worked incredibly hard on the restoration, many of them going home to no power themselves and forgoing time with their families and friends.”

Mr Blue said work will continue to get power restored for every customer and regular planned work is also set to resume over the coming weeks.

“It’s important we get back to our planned network maintenance to ensure our network is resilient in the face of future weather events.”

Customers who have an upcoming planned outage should be notified of this by their retailer and will be able to check these on the planned outages map on our website – www.powernet.co.nz

By the Numbers as at 2.30pm 6/11

The Power Company Limited network (Southland)
Total Customers: 38,200
Customers without power: 22

OtagoNet network (South Otago)
Total Customers: 15,700
Customers without power: 43

TOTAL OUTAGES ACROSS BOTH NETWORKS: 65