Quick end to power crisis
Northland Advocate, Whangarei
A national grid emergency led indirectly to a six-minute full loss of power to the 9500 residential clients of Northland lines company Northpower yesterday.
Communications Manager, Vanessa Edge said a major North Island power station lost output from three of its generators shortly after 9am. Transpower, responsible for ensuring sufficient generation, had asked North Island lines companies to reduce power consumption until additional power could be brought on line.
Northpower had initially disconnected all hot water heating but, when Transpower called for more power, it temporarily disconnected the electricity supply to several thousand homes and businesses while it manually prioritised power distribution to essential services and businesses. Reinstatement of hot water heating and full restoration of power had taken about an hour.
Ms Edge said the emergency had been quickly deflected by the prompt action of North Island lines companies working with Transpower - and the power outages had probably gone unnoticed by most Northpower consumers.
Media Contact
For more information please contact:
Steve Macmillan
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Phone: 09 978 2903
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