By Fallen line or hazard
Stay back at least 8 metres, keep clear of any standing irrigation water near a downed line, and call 111 first. A conductor brought down by a nor'wester on a rural Ashburton feeder can still be live even when it looks dead.
Help your neighbours
Live community map & report a power cut
If neighbours are also without power, the fault is on the network, not your switchboard. The map below shows outages reported by other Selectra readers across New Zealand in real time. Use it as a first diagnostic before you call: if an active outage is already plotted near you, crews likely know about it. A short anonymous report helps others see what is happening in your area. It does not replace the call to your lines company.
Immediate danger
Fallen power line, sparks, burning smell or smoke? Call 111 before reporting anything else. Stay back at least 8 metres from any downed line.
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Report a power cut
Thanks: your report is recorded
Now make the official call to your lines company so a crew is dispatched. For a fallen line or any hazard, dial 111 first.
Who fixes the fault
Your lines company and its 24/7 fault line
Only the lines company that owns the poles and wires in your street can dispatch a crew. Call the number below if your report shows the outage is on the network.
EA Networks
One lines company across the whole Ashburton District
24/7 faults line. EA Networks is locally owned, so the depot is in Ashburton itself and crews know the rural feeders well.
Coverage: Ashburton, Tinwald, Allenton, Hampstead, Netherby, Methven, Rakaia, Mount Somers, Mayfield, Hinds, Chertsey, Rangitata.
Mid Canterbury network signatures
What drives outages on the Canterbury Plains
A flat, intensively-farmed plain with long overhead spurs has a very particular outage profile. Three patterns dominate the Ashburton register.
The nor'wester
Methven, Mount Somers and the foothills feeders: the classic Canterbury nor'wester funnels off the Alps and hammers exposed lines. Conductor clash and wind-driven tree fall cause most of the rural trips, often in otherwise dry, sunny weather.
Irrigation-season load
The dairy plains around Rakaia, Hinds and Chertsey: centre-pivot irrigators and milking sheds pull heavy, concentrated load through summer. Pump motors and contractor digging near buried cable are a recurring source of localised rural faults.
Long rural feeders
Ashburton town restores quickly, but a fault on a long spur out to a back-country farm means a truck travelling further before the crew can even find the break. Distance, not difficulty, is what stretches rural restoration times here.
A Mid Canterbury tip
If you farm or run an irrigation business on a long rural spur, ask EA Networks to flag the property when you register a medically-dependent or stock-critical load. Dairy sheds with no backup generator are vulnerable during a prolonged nor'wester event, and a known priority address helps the crew sequence the restoration.
If a power surge damages an appliance in Ashburton
EA Networks does not publish a consumer damage-claim portal, so the practical path for surge-damaged appliances runs through your own cover rather than the lines company. Here is how Mid Canterbury households usually handle it.
- 1Call 0800 430 460 and ask for the incident reference, the time the fault started and any noted cause. You will need this if you make a claim.
- 2Lodge the claim through your home contents insurance, which is where surge damage is normally covered. Keep photos, the original purchase receipt and a registered electrician's report.
- 3Send a short written request to your electricity retailer as well, citing the incident reference, in case the fault is later attributed to network negligence rather than weather.
- 4Expect 4 to 8 weeks. Appliances under 5 years old, with a receipt and an electrician's report, fare best. Nor'wester and storm events are usually treated as weather, not negligence.
Ashburton questions
Frequently asked questions: Ashburton outages
EA Networks, the Mid Canterbury lines company, on 0800 430 460, 24 hours a day. The same number covers Ashburton town, Tinwald, Methven, Rakaia and the rural district. For a hazard such as a downed line, dial 111 first.
Check the community map above first to see whether anyone nearby has reported a cut, then open the EA Networks live outage map for the official list of current and planned outages. If your neighbours have power and you do not, the problem is more likely your own switchboard or main fuse, so check those before you call.
Methven and the foothills sit on long overhead feeders that are far more exposed to the nor'wester than the underground and short-span lines in central Ashburton. Wind-driven tree fall and conductor clash drive most of those rural trips, and the crew has further to travel to reach a fault, so restoration takes longer.
A single fault in Ashburton town: typically 30 to 90 minutes. Tinwald and the urban fringe: 1 to 2 hours. Rural spurs out to Methven, Mount Somers or the back-country farms: 2 to 6 hours, longer during a sustained nor'wester when multiple feeders are affected at once.
Yes. EA Networks gives advance notice of planned maintenance, usually by letter or email, and lists upcoming work on its outage map. If someone in the household depends on mains power for medical equipment, register as a medically-dependent customer with your retailer so the network can give you proactive notice.
EA Networks does not run a public damage-claim portal, so surge damage is normally claimed through your home contents insurance. Keep the incident reference, photos, the original receipt and a registered electrician's report, and send a written request to your retailer too. Allow 4 to 8 weeks. Weather-driven nor'wester outages are usually excluded.
Nearby outage guides
Power outages across Canterbury
Same storm front, different lines company. If the cut reaches a neighbouring town, here is the right 24/7 fault line and live map for the rest of Canterbury.
See the regional hub: Canterbury power outages, or browse every New Zealand region.