Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Far North in the dark after a major fault

Peter de Graaf
Northern Advocate·
8 Oct, 2015 11:27 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
BP Kerikeri was one of may Far North businesses that closed during the power cut.

BP Kerikeri was one of may Far North businesses that closed during the power cut.

2pm UPDATE:

Power has now been restored in the Far North.

However, Transpower says it may take until 4pm for Top Energy to restore to the local network on a staged basis.

The cause of the outage is still unknown and investigations will continue to determine what caused the fault.

The outage also affected some telecommunications networks, making communications difficult.

Top Energy recommends that the best way to stay informed is by checking their Facebook page.

Businesses in Paihia continued through the outage with some restaurants pulling out the BBQ to cook for customers.

Paihia was buzzing with hundreds of passengers from the first of the cruise ships for this summer season.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

12pm:

Almost the entire Far North is in the dark after a major fault at Kaikohe where the national grid feeds into the district's main substation.

The power went out about 10.30am and as of noon there was still no indication of when the supply would be restored.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The outage has also knocked out some phone and computer networks, making communications difficult. Shops and offices across the district are closed.

The power cut coincides with the arrival in Paihia of the first cruise ship of the season.

Top Energy spokesman Peter Heath said there appeared to be a problem involving the supply of power from the national grid into the Kaikohe sub-station.

"We are working with Transpower to identify and fix the problem. Because of the extent of the outage Ngawha power station has had to shut down and is no longer producing power."

Discover more

Big blackout cause still a mystery

09 Oct 05:00 PM

Asbestos risk low but Spa stays shut

11 Oct 06:30 PM
Business

First cruise ship visits in power cut

12 Oct 12:38 AM

Fault found but power could fail again

12 Oct 01:39 AM

The only place in the Far North with power is Taipa and immediate surroundings. Some years ago Top Energy installed a backup generator at Taipa because of the town's frequent power cuts.

Mr Heath said communications were difficult as some phone networks were down.

The company was doing its best to keep people informed via the media and Top Energy's Facebook page.

There was no indication as to when power would be restored.

It is believed to be unclear whether the problem is in Transpower's national grid or the Top Energy network.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

First papakāinga under Whangārei’s new housing rules breaks ground

13 Sep 05:00 PM
Northern Advocate

Orange envelopes arrive: How and when Northlanders can cast their vote

12 Sep 11:00 PM
Northern Advocate

Chris Bishop flags Northland housing crisis, expressway progress

12 Sep 05:00 PM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

First papakāinga under Whangārei’s new housing rules breaks ground
Northern Advocate

First papakāinga under Whangārei’s new housing rules breaks ground

The development includes 11 whare for multigenerational living.

13 Sep 05:00 PM
Orange envelopes arrive: How and when Northlanders can cast their vote
Northern Advocate

Orange envelopes arrive: How and when Northlanders can cast their vote

12 Sep 11:00 PM
Chris Bishop flags Northland housing crisis, expressway progress
Northern Advocate

Chris Bishop flags Northland housing crisis, expressway progress

12 Sep 05:00 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP