Power Restored for Another 3,000 Customers

Friday 14 April 2017, 11.30am – Power has been restored to another 3,000 or so customers in Hawke’s Bay since 10am, leaving around 10,000 customers without power in Hawke’s Bay while Unison continues to assess network damage.

Unison Relationship Manager, Danny Gough said, “We’re currently undertaking aerial assessment via helicopter and crews are also out there assessing the extent of the damage. The damage is widespread, but at this stage we are aiming to get most customers in urban areas back on by the end of the day.”

Mr Gough said customers in rural areas should make preparations for the possibility of being without power for the next day or two.

“We are advising these customers to prepare for prolonged periods without power following what appears to be extensive damage to the network.

“This is a massive restoration effort and we are focused on repairing and restoring where we can make the biggest impact with the most number of customers.

“We are urging rural customers to make alternative arrangements, talk to their farming communities, and other support organisations to ensure they look after themselves and their stock.”

He said the team was very thankful for everyone’s patience throughout the restoration so far.

“We have been overwhelmed by everyone’s patience, and understanding of the impacts of the weather on our network.”

Due to the large number of calls through Unison’s call centres, customers are still asked check for known outages on its website: http://www.unison.co.nz/outages, follow its Facebook page and Civil Defence’s advice. Unison is also providing regular updates via radio.

-Ends-

© Scoop Media