A major power cut that has closed schools and business across the Far North may be sabotage.
Transpower said police had been advised after crews discovered the fault on the transmission lines was caused by someone shooting glass insulators high on three transmission towers.
Workers this morning found bullet casings near the damaged pylons.
In a statement, police said Northland CIB had been notified of the damage caused to the three transmission towers, and were making further enquiries.
They added that they hoped to provide an update later today.
"Cell phone reception is affected in some areas, however landlines are still operating. Anyone needing police assistance who cannot call from a mobile phone needs to call 111 or their local police station from a landline."
The power cut has affected 32,000 homes and businesses in the Far North. Schools are closed and hospitals are using generators. The Far North District Council is advising people not to flush toilets.
Electricity to the region had been out since 3am and was expected to remain off until early this evening.
Transpower report they have managed to repair some of their network in the Upper North Island, so power is able to be restored to the local community.
"A number of the insulators damaged earlier today have been replaced in a manner to allow power to be restored earlier than the projected 6pm timeframe. Repairs on the remaining insulators will continue over the course of the afternoon and into tomorrow."
Transpower added that Top Energy should have restored their network by approximately 2.50pm.
"We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and thank those affected for their patience while we have made the necessary repairs."
Transpower spokeswoman Rebecca Wilson said the damage was in a remote area between Maungatapere and Kaikohe, and bad weather and the rugged terrain hampered access by repair crews, who had to inspect each tower by foot.
Wilson apologised for the inconvenience to the Far North community and said Transpower was working as quickly as possible to restore electricity.
Our crews have now located the cause of the fault on the transmission lines as a result of their patrols. Three...
Posted by Transpower NZ on Wednesday, 7 December 2016
She warned people to prepare to be without electricity for the rest of the working day.
Materials were on the way from Wellsford to the remote site.
The Far North District Council was now asking all households on town supply to conserve water and avoid flushing toilets.
Town water and sewerage systems were connected to the mains power and residents were asked to reduce loads on these systems, particularly in Kerikeri.
With power out across the region schools have closed their doors for the day.
Hospitals and businesses have turned to back-up generators to run vital equipment and the Fire Service is relying on pagers and text messages to relay vital information.
A number of Vodafone and Spark cell sites are without power, affecting mobile coverage.
Vodafone confirmed at 12.45pm that mobile services across Northland were being restored as their team deployed generators.
"Services have been restored to sites at Kaikohe, Okaihau, Kaitaia and Ahipara. Customers in these regions should have returned to normal service.
"Technicians are currently working at cell sites in Kawakawa East and Tauranga Bay, which will be the next sites to be restored."
Spark said before lunchtime three mobile cell sites were down and customers throughout the region could expect network congestion. Technicians were working to get generators to high priority sites as a matter of urgency.
We are currently working with Top Energy to resupply power to the Upper North Island. We were able to fix enough of the...
Posted by Transpower NZ on Wednesday, 7 December 2016
All Far North District Council offices and libraries in the region were closed.
The council advised people to only phone the council in an emergency as the contact centre was on restricted power.
Paihia School principal Jane Lindsay said all parents had been called and told to keep their children home today.
She said no buses were running and the school didn't have any lights or ability for students to use electronic devices. She said the decision to close had also been taken because there was no indication when power would be restored.
Other primary schools understood to have shut their doors include Riverview Primary, Okaihau Primary and Kerikeri Primary. But NZME reporters cannot reach most on landlines because of the power cut.
In Rawene registered nurse Stacey Alexander said the generator didn't kick in automatically so the hospital was without power for about half an hour.
Further north, Kaitaia Hospital was also running on a generator.
Focus Paihia co-ordinator Tiff Holland said the tourist town was locked up this morning despite hundreds of visitors pouring in from a visiting cruise ship.
"I can see tenders going in and out from the ship but there' s nothing open. Goodness knows what they're going to do."
Normally shops in the Bay of Island visitor hotspot would be teeming with customers.
Instead a single coffee cart with a generator was operating and a queue at least 50 people deep waiting for their morning fix.
"I'm standing down here waiting along with 50 others wanting a fresh coffee."
Kaitaia timber mill Juken has also been brought to a halt by the power cut.
A spokesman said generators were providing emergency electricity for telephones and computers but there was no electricity for production.