Keeping customers well informed about power outages

10 August 2021 at 4:06 pm

On Monday night, 9 August, a number of electricity customers in the North Island were without power for a period of time as all electricity distributors were asked to reduce load.

These outages occurred as record demand coincided with insufficient generation which resulted in Transpower, as the system operator, asking electricity distributors, including Orion, to reduce demand to maintain system security and prevent wider problems for the network.

Fortunately for customers on the Orion network, we were able to meet the requests of Transpower by managing hot water cylinder load and working with some of our major customers. We were not required to disconnect customers although we were close to needing to do so.

In future, where we know there is a risk that we may need to disconnect customers, we will post that information on our website and Facebook page as early as we possibly can. You may wish to follow Orion on Facebook to receive notifications of those updates.

We want to assure you that the integrity of the Orion network is sound and that we remain committed to providing a safe, reliable, and resilient electricity supply.

Nigel Barbour
Orion Group Chief Executive

Related information:

Transpower statement: 9 August power outages
Stuff articles:
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