Storm and grid fault darken Southland

A national grid failure and a storm hit Southland at the same time on Sunday, knocking out power to around 25,000 customers for roughly two hours at midday.

Transpower, which owns the national grid, experienced a significant issue at lunchtime that cut supply to most of Southland. That fault has since been resolved. The storm, however, is still causing problems.

PowerNet estimates 800 customers remain without power — around 500 in Southland and 300 in Otago — while crews repair damage to poles and lines.

PowerNet operations general manager Geoff Thorburn said crews were already in the field before the Transpower fault struck.

"We have had crews out since the early hours of Sunday morning, when the winds first hit. They were out working on repairs when Transpower's issue first occurred and have continued working through this afternoon."

Anyone still without power should call now. "Everyone affected by Transpower's outage will have had their electricity restored by now, unless there is weather-related damage to poles or lines. If you are still without electricity, and you haven't called us to let us know, do so now on 0800 808 587."

Lightning strikes are a big part of the problem. "We've experienced a lot of lightning strikes throughout Southland which can cause significant damage to our electricity infrastructure, and can take quite some time to repair," Thorburn said.

He warned people away from downed lines. "If you come across any storm-related damage today where vegetation or debris is in contact with lines, don't be tempted to try and clear it yourself. Call 111 if there's immediate danger - or call us on our 0800 number."

Thorburn also credited residents and farmers for tree-trimming work done after last October's wind event. "We know that many of you have been checking, trimming, and cutting down trees that threaten powerlines over the past year, and that will have made a difference today."

Whether outages will continue overnight is not yet clear. People with medical dependence on power are urged to activate their emergency plan or contact their medical provider.