Powerco apologises for leaving customers in the dark over outage

A wheelchair-bound man was left stuck after Powerco failed to inform Durie Hill residents of a planned outage.

Powerco has apologised for failing to inform customers of a planned outage for Durie Hill customers.

On October 2, 184 homes in Durie Hill lost power in a planned outage but were not notified in advance.

Durie Hill resident Tiffany Davies said her husband, who has myotonic muscular dystrophy, depended on electricity for his oxygen machine and electric wheelchair.

Davies was out of the home at the time, leaving her husband stuck in his chair.

“With no planning, he’s pretty stuck,” she said.

“Somebody who was in a worse position and needed that oxygen fulltime would have been in big trouble.”

Davies said she has complained to Powerco.

In a statement, Powerco said the lack of notification was caused by an “administrative error”.

“We regret that an administrative error on our part meant that these communications with customers did not occur for the planned outage for 184 Durie Hill customers between 9.30am and 2pm on Wednesday when our crews were replacing power poles,” Powerco head of customer delivery Mark Hermann said.

“We’re sorry this happened and recognise it has been stressful for some of our customers. We’re working with customers to address their individual concerns,” Hermann said.

Affected customers who would like to discuss their individual situation can contact Powerco’s general enquiry line on 0800 769 372 or send a message via its website.

Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.