Power restored on eve of storm

The 85 workers had been removing high-voltage power lines from a damaged pylon teetering on the edge of a cliff and transferring them to new poles. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Far North lines company Top Energy has restored power to 10,000 homes affected by repair work at Mangamuka four hours ahead of schedule.

The workers had been removing high-voltage power lines from a damaged pylon teetering on the edge of a cliff and transferring them to new poles.

A Top Energy spokesman said the company wanted to restore the power earlier than the previous deadline of 5pm today, given the unknown effects of Cyclone Pam, which was now beginning to whip across the Far North.

The pylon, which was damaged by a 100m-long slip triggered by heavy rain in December, was in the rugged Mangamuka Range just north of the point where State Highway 1 crosses the Mangamuka River.

It carried 110,000 volt cables that were Kaitaia's only source of power.

"Power is back and running Kaitaia," he said.

He said 85 workers were scheduled to complete non-essential maintenance work which Top Energy had decided to postpone for today.

"There are no further outages planned -- it's not ideal working conditions and we want to make sure power is up and running for customers before the weather gets any worse."

Customers in the east coast had expected a one-hour outage from 5pm today, but Top Energy would not be carrying out the work that was due to cause that outage today.

"As of 2pm, Top Energy has not recorded any faults in the network. If anyone is still without power -- let us know," the company said.