Taupō power troubles: Transpower restores power to Wairakei substation

Around 16,000 customers went without power in the region. Photo / File

Taupō residents can expect their power to be returned shortly if it hasn't already, electric power transmission company Transpower New Zealand reports.

Power was restored to the National Grid at the Wairakei substation around 6pm, Transpower NZ said on Facebook, which is a good sign for those impacted.

"Unison is currently in the process of gradually electrifying their local network, but it may take some time for them to complete their work," Transpower NZ said.

"Please treat all outlets as live. We'd like to thank everyone affected by today's outage for their patience and understanding as our crews worked to power restored."

The announcement comes after around 16,000 customers in the wider Taupō region were left without power after a massive outage this morning.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Transpower NZ said the outage was caused by an electrical equipment fault.

"The outage was caused by an electrical equipment fault which occurred on one of the feeders that supply Unison, the local lines company," the spokesperson said.

"Our priority is restoring power supply to the wider Taupō region as soon, and as safely, as possible.

"We estimate it will take some time for Unison to restore power to individuals and businesses in affected areas."

Since the power was restored by Transpower NZ, Unison has started work progressively restoring power to homes and businesses throughout the region.

"This is sooner than expected, although will take up to two hours to have everyone's power back on," Unison said on Facebook.