By Fallen line, sparks or smoke
Stay back at least 8 metres, keep children and pets clear, and call 111 first. After a Tasman gale, a line down across a rural Horowhenua road can still be live: treat every fallen conductor as dangerous until Electra confirms it is isolated.
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 suburb. 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. Electra owns the Horowhenua network, so it is Electra you call, not your power retailer, when the outage is on the network.
Electra
One lines company across the Horowhenua and Kapiti
Dial 0800 LOST POWER. 24/7 faults line. The same network runs north to just past Foxton and south to Paekakariki.
Coverage: Levin, Foxton, Foxton Beach, Shannon, Ohau, Manakau, Waitarere Beach, Tokomaru, and the rural Horowhenua market-garden blocks.
Where the Horowhenua loses power
Why Levin, Foxton and Shannon outages happen where they do
The Horowhenua is flat, coastal and farmed end to end. Three patterns shape almost every outage Electra restores in the district.
Tasman wind and salt
Foxton Beach, Waitarere, Hokio: the coastal edge takes the full westerly off the Tasman. Wind throws debris into overhead lines and salt slowly corrodes insulators, so the seaward feeders trip more often than the town centre.
Rural market-garden spurs
Ohau, Manakau, rural Levin: long single-feeder spurs serve glasshouses, pack-houses and a handful of homes. One fault can leave a stretch of road dark for hours because crews restore higher-density faults in town first.
Ex-tropical storms
Whole-district events: the tail of a tropical low tracking down the lower North Island can bring down multiple lines at once. These are the outages that run past a single afternoon, and the ones most worth a back-up plan for a home freezer of garden produce.
Horowhenua tip
Electra publishes planned and unplanned outages on its live map at outages.electra.co.nz. If you searched electra power outage levin today map, that map is the authoritative source for your street. Check it before you call: if the cut is already plotted, the crew is already on it.
Fried fridge or modem? How to claim after a Levin surge
If a surge on restoration kills an appliance, there are two channels, and most Horowhenua households use neither because they never ask.
- 1Call 0800 567 876 and ask for the incident number for your outage. Note the start time, the duration and any visible cause.
- 2If the surge came from the network and equipment failure is shown, lodge a claim with Electra through the Electra contact form, with photos, the appliance brand, model and age, the original receipt where possible, and a registered electrician's report.
- 3For a storm-driven outage, the lines company will usually decline (force majeure). Take it to your contents insurance instead: most policies cover surge-damaged appliances and spoiled food up to a sub-limit.
- 4Stuck? Escalate free to Utilities Disputes once you have a final written answer you disagree with.
Levin-specific questions
Frequently asked questions: Levin and Horowhenua outages
Electra, 24 hours a day, on 0800 567 876 (0800 LOST POWER). The same number covers Levin, Foxton, Foxton Beach, Shannon and the rural Horowhenua. For a fallen line or any hazard, call 111 first.
Yes. Foxton, Foxton Beach and Shannon are all on the Electra network, the same lines company as Levin. The Electra network runs from just north of Foxton south through the Horowhenua and on to the Kapiti Coast. One fault line, 0800 567 876, covers the lot.
A single fault on a town feeder is usually back in 1 to 3 hours. Rural spurs around Ohau and Manakau, and the coastal feeders at Foxton Beach and Waitarere, can take longer because crews travel further and restore higher-density faults first. A district-wide storm event can run from several hours to more than a day in the worst-hit pockets.
The coast takes the full force of the Tasman westerly, and salt spray slowly corrodes overhead insulators and switchgear. Wind-blown debris bridging the lines is the leading cause of trips on the seaward feeders. Central Levin sits further inland with shorter, more sheltered feeders, so it rides out the same fronts better.
Yes. Electra is required to give at least 5 working days notice of planned maintenance, by letter, email or text to the affected address. Planned outages also appear on the live map at outages.electra.co.nz under the planned filter. If someone in your home depends on electricity for health, register as a medically dependent consumer with your retailer so Electra can give you proactive notice.
Nearby outage guides
Power outages across the Manawatu-Whanganui region
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 the Manawatu-Whanganui region.
See the regional hub: Manawatu-Whanganui power outages, or browse every New Zealand region.