Outages & restoration
Our outage centre provides information about current major outages on our electricity and gas networks. Current and planned outages are posted here.
What causes outages?
Every network in the world can be affected by unplanned outages, whether located above or below ground. This is because the entire system is interconnected - from generators, to transmission, to local distribution.
Technical problems or equipment failure can cause outages, but often the problem is caused by extreme weather, vegetation touching or falling onto lines, car accidents involving power poles, and lines and pipes being accidentally damaged by people excavating or other construction work.
Restoration priorities during storms and major outages
In a major power outage it is always a priority to restore supply to as many customers as quickly as possible while maintaining the safety of field crews and the public. This can generally be achieved by restoring in the following order:
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Network substations, gate stations and main feeder lines/pipelines - these form the backbone of our network and must be repaired before power can be restored further down the line
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Critical infrastructure - hospitals, water and sewage plants, airports
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Major locations - buildings in CBD, high rise buildings, commercial centres and industrial plants
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Domestic properties - urban and rural
Although crews are trained to work on our network lines in all weather conditions, day or night, there may be times when it is unsafe to proceed. Vector has a total commitment to safety and will not allow work to go ahead if it cannot be done safely.
Delays to power restoration may occur if crews are unable to access the source of the outage, either because of the terrain or because the affected line is on locked or secured private property.
Service standards
We have set service standards which apply in normal weather conditions on our electricity networks. In extreme weather conditions or major adverse events outside our control, the usual service standards do not apply although every effort is made to restore supply as quickly as possible.
People using medical equipment
It is impossible to guarantee an uninterrupted supply of power. It is vital that people using medical equipment that relies on electricity ensure they are prepared for power disruptions, have a back up plan and if there is an immediate health threat, contact their health provider or call 111.
Hot water pilot lines
Our hot water pilot lines on our northern network (North Shore, Waitakere and Rodney District), can also be affected by the same conditions that impact our electricity lines. During a major outage priority will be given to restoring power before hot water. See our hot water and load management FAQs and a map showing the areas we are currently load managing is provided here.
Damaged service lines and privately owned networks
We can repair damage to lines and equipment only on our electricity network. We are not responsible for repairing damage to the national grid or to privately owned networks or customer service lines.
We do however own the gas service connections, the pipes that connect a customer’s premises to our network in the street, and which terminate at the gas meter.
