Taupo¯ hit by major power cut

Taupo¯ residents spent the day without power after a fault in electrical equipment yesterday morning caused a massive outage.

Most of the 16,000 residents who lost power were saved from a cold and dark night after electricity company Transpower New Zealand said power was restored to the national grid at the Wairakei substation around 6pm.

“Unison is currently in the process of gradually electrifying their local network, but it may take some time for them to complete their work,” Transpower NZ said.

“Please treat all outlets as live. We’d like to thank everyone affected by today’s outage for their patience and understanding as our crews worked to power restored.”

Many Taupo¯ businesses had to shut because of the outage, though some had generators and were able to operate. Schools stayed open.

Torpedo7 bike mechanic Anthony Baxter said the power outage forced him to close the shop as the doors weren’t operating, there was no instore lighting and Eftpos-paying customers had no payment option.

“The outage was caused by an electrical equipment fault which occurred on one of the feeders that supply Unison, the local lines company,” a Transpower NZ spokesman said.

“Our priority is restoring power supply to the wider Taupo¯ region as soon, and as safely, as possible.”

When power was restored by Transpower NZ at 6pm, Unison started work progressively restoring power to homes and businesses throughout the region.