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OUR PRIORITY

Northpower has continued to improve it's fault response times over the year. In most cases, a faultman is on the way to a fault within just five minutes or so of it being called in.

Five faultmen are on the road throughout the district during normal work hours, with other staff rostered on for after-hours work. In most cases, they will be on-site within an hour, or much less in an urban area. Storm situations can be difficult when numerous calls are coming in but again, Northpower has a deserved reputation for quick and effective action.

In most cases, the Company can determine if the fault is a home owner or a Northpower responsibility, during the initial call.

However, a practise by some retailer companies of encouraging their customers to contact them first, so they can then pass details on to Northpower, can cause confusion. If it is a power fault, the most effective approach is to contact Northpower direct.

The control centre at Northpower's Raumanga base is heavily computerised with substations illuminated on a wall chart and detailed information on each, available at the click of a computer mouse.

The control room has one full time staff member, with others available to be called in if, as often happens, things get busy.

In a storm situation, a bank of telephones are staffed while a recorded message system can be activated if line faults affect a wide area.

A battery back-up and stand-by generator ensure that the control room is always in operation even if a fault strikes the Raumanga base itself.

While the vast majority of faults are fixed within an hour or less, occasionally problems do occur that stretch the time period. One of the most difficult in the past year occurred during a storm when a landslip in a forestry area brought down several poles. It wasn't until the next day that Northpower could get into the area because another slip blocked road access and a helicopter was needed to fly in the replacement poles.

In most cases, it is difficulty with access, such as slips across roads, which are outside Northpower's control that will slow repair times, but that doesn't happen often.

To contact Northpower's control room, phone 430 1800

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