Aurora to investigate repetitive power cuts
AURORA Energy will carry out a formal investigation after a spate of power cuts in a Dunedin suburb continued at the weekend, leaving a popular restaurant in the lurch once again.
An outage on Saturday led to a booking of more than 50 people walking out of the Village Green Cafe & Bar.
Owners Darren Bezett and Nicola Chisholm say it was the seventh time since October that they had had an outage while trying to serve customers.
Aurora says it will get to the bottom of what is causing the constant power cuts, but that it was likely related to strong winds hitting the area.
‘‘What we believe at this stage, is that the conductor [electricity wire] contacted an adjacent street light in heavy winds,’’ a spokeswoman said in a statement.
‘‘When this happened, the protection safety system on the circuit would have immediately cut electricity supply.’’
Mr Bezett said his venue had a Christmas party booking on Saturday for 46 adults and nine children who had to find somewhere else to eat after the power went out on two occasions.
‘‘The power was off and then it came back on and then it went out again and by 5 o’clock they said ‘No, no, we’ve got to go elsewhere,’ so away they went.’’
Most guests would spend between $70 and $100 a person and about $15 per child at the restaurant, Mr Bezett said.
The lost booking could have been worth as much as $4700 and it did not stop there.
‘‘We then had to ring groups booked to tell them we had no power and we lost more custom as a result — it just is not good enough,’’ Mr Bezett said.
He said he tried to ring Aurora and was put through to a spokeswoman who did not then answer their phone.
Mr Bezett said he wanted clearer communication so he could decide whether to get a backup generator in case there were further cuts in the runup to Christmas. Some diners had made bookingsmonths in advance.
‘‘If we could ask them a few questions and get some answers, then maybe we could put some planning in place if these outages are going to continue.
‘‘It is very costly to install a generator but if this carries on, it may be our only way to guarantee continuity of supply to keep our business open,’’ he said.
Households in the area and other major businesses such as
Fulton Hogan and Tuapeka Gold Print have also been affected by the outages.
Aurora’s general manager of customer and engagement Sian Sutton said the lines company had started an investigation into what has caused the constant power cuts.
‘‘We are also reviewing the actions of contractors on site, and looking into the location and cause of each outage to better understand the underlying cause of these outages.
‘‘We acknowledge the impact that unplanned outages can have on local businesses, their customers and households and we are working to resolve the elevated level of outages in this area.’’
Ms Sutton said Aurora had responded to all customers and businesses that had contacted the company after the recent outage and it had spoken directly to one of the owners of the Village Green Cafe & Bar, Nicola Chisholm.
The company would have a community meeting with businesses and affected customers next year.