New Zealand-based electricity and gas distributor Powerco has successfully completed maintenance work on the line supplying electricity to Whitianga, Coromandel and the surrounding areas.

Electricity supply to about 9000 consumers was shut down for around six hours while Powerco undertook critical maintenance.

Powerco Network Operations Manager Ross Dixon said crews replaced a number of poles, cross-arms and insulators on the 66,000-V line, which is the sole source of supply into the top of the Coromandel Peninsula.

“The works all went to plan. Powerco had multiple crews so that the planned shutdown was as short as possible while still allowing us sufficient time to install the new equipment safely.”

Dixon said Powerco also had tree trimming contractors undertake work to clear trees from near overhead lines as part of the project.

“Trees are a major cause of outages and, with the lines out of service, our contractors were able to remove a large number of trees and branches that could potentially have caused damage to the network in future years.” 

Dixon said Powerco wished to thank the members of the community who assisted in planning for the shutdown and also those people who took the time to thank contractors in the field.

“We had reports from field staff of members of the public thanking them for their good work. We realise the shutdowns can cause inconvenience and we are grateful for the community support.”