Power was cut to about 1000 properties in Te Puke district after a car smashed into a powerpole, resulting in thousands of dollars of losses for some business owners.
Powerco Network Operations Manager Phil Marsh said power was cut about 7.20am yesterday when the car hit the wooden powerpole inLemon Rd, Paengaroa. The pole snapped, the overhead lines came down and the circuit breaker tripped.
The damage cut power to several streets in Paengaroa, Rangiuru, Te Matai, Te Puke and Te Ranga. Power was restored to the majority of the affected customers within an hour and was fully restored about 3pm.
Ron Weldon, site manager at Paengaroa Gull service station, said he was still counting the cost of losses and the repair bill after the power surge resulted in the motors in three big fridges and a coffee machine burning out. The major components of a computer were also affected.
Mr Weldon said while the power was out for several hours, they could not work the petrol pumps and had to turn away hundreds of customers on one of their busiest days of the week.
He estimated the business lost close to $10,000 in sales as well as the electrician costs to repair the damaged appliances and re-check the safety of other appliances.
"We have had to deal with some very angry and upset customers, especially those heading to Rotorua, who relied on filling up at our station," he said.
Paengaroa Sands owner Brent Scown said the outage meant work stopped for about five hours, resulting in losses estimated at $2000.
Mr Marsh said if anyone had appliances they thought were affected by the power cut, Powerco recommended they contact their insurance company first or their energy retailer.
