Nearly 100,000 people spent the day without electricity in Northland after a transmission tower linking the region to the rest of the country collapsed.
Power was restored to most of the region yesterday evening, but consumers were asked to conserve electricity and warned their hot water cylinders would remain off while the amount of energy getting into the area was limited.
The tower was undergoing maintenance work when it fell yesterday morning but questions remain on the cause of the collapse.
The country’s grid provider Transpower issued a grid emergency notice. It was the second such notice issued this year after there was a shortage of generation during a cold snap in May and a solar storm two days later.
The impact of the power outages on Northland also comes after the region suffered through Cyclone Gabrielle last year, along with more subsequent heavy rain compounding issues and severing transport links throughout 2023.
Some Northland businesses closed early yesterday and others only accepted cash as trading continued in the dark. Students at a number of schools were sent home early.
Police officers directed traffic at some intersections and the New Zealand Transport Agency reminded motorists to follow give-way rules at all other junctions while the traffic lights were out.
Generators kicked in at Whangārei, Dargaville, Bay of Islands and Kaitāia hospitals.
The loss of power meant water supplies were cut and people around the region were asked to conserve how much they were using. There were reports of residents stocking up on bottled water at supermarkets.
The transmission tower collapse,which happened in Glorit, Auckland, about 45km west of Warkworth, happened at the same time another circuit connecting Northland to the grid was down for maintenance.
The downed Transpower tower in Glorit, Auckland, which resulted in the electricity link for Northland being severed. Photo / Louise Owen
“[This] highlights how fragile the infrastructure in Northland is,” Northland MP Grant McCallum said. He said this was “the last thing [Northlanders] needed”.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell also said the situation raised questions about how resilient the region’s infrastructure was. Civil Defence had been scrambled to help vulnerable communities.
Kaipara District Mayor Craig Jepson said he hoped the outage would not impact businesses too badly.
“People are really concerned about what’s happening. I think we’re pretty hard-bitten when things like this happen that we don’t expect,” Jepson said.
Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said the widespread outage showed the importance of “ensuring our connectivity is resilient”.
“Hopefully we can get that transmission line back up and join us back up to the main grid. It’s not good enough for our entire region to be dependent on a single line.”
Rod Emmerson's editorial cartoon on the power outage.
Minister of Energy Simeon Brown said there would be an investigation into the incident to figure out why the transmission tower collapsed and how it cut power to the entire region.
“But the priority at the moment is making sure power is restored as quickly as possible, vulnerable people who rely on electricity are looked after, and working with electricity distribution businesses around how that power will be managed as they work through restoring power.”
Brown said crews were performing maintenance work on the tower when it collapsed.
Transpower said it had launched a “full investigation” into why it fell. It confirmed there was a crew doing maintenance work on the tower and said the workers were unharmed as it collapsed.
Brown said Transpower had taken some measures, including shifting load to another pylon, to get some electricity north through the alternative pylon.
He said another power station in Northland that was out for maintenance was brought back on yesterday afternoon to add generation.
A transmission tower in Glorit, Auckland, collapsed at about 11am.
Transpower spokesman Nathan Green said additional power came on stream last night, which meant most people should have had their power restored by 7pm.
“However, the power available is much less than we would normally have at this time of the evening. This means we need to leave the hot water off for everyone and ask that you continue to minimise your power use as much as possible.
“This ensures that as many people as possible can share in the reduced power we have available tonight.
“Transpower advises that the work required to restore supply from the fallen tower will take until at least tomorrow [Friday] afternoon, so please continue to conserve as much power as possible and stay prepared for further outages during this time.”
He thanked customers for their “patience, kindness, and support”.
“Please stay safe and keep an eye on those around you who may be struggling, especially if they are vulnerable.”
People in northern parts of Auckland were also asked to conserve electricity due to the fallen transmission tower. The region’s lines company Vector said Transpower had warned it that it may have needed to cut power to some households to save power.
“We are asking customers in Warkworth, Wellsford, Snells Beach and Big Omaha to conserve power this evening to reduce the likelihood of outages being required,” a spokesman for Vector said.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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