By Fallen line or hazard
Stay back at least 8 metres, keep clear of standing water near a downed line, and call 111 first. A line dropped by wind on a rural Waimakariri feeder can still be live, so treat every fallen conductor as energised.
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. In Rangiora and Kaiapoi that is MainPower, not Orion. Call the number below if your report shows the outage is on the network.
MainPower
North Canterbury and Waimakariri, one community-owned network
24/7 faults line. MainPower is the Waimakariri and Hurunui lines company. If you assumed Orion covered Rangiora, this is the number you need instead.
Coverage: Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Woodend, Pegasus, Oxford, Cust, Loburn, Sefton, Amberley, Waikuku, Leithfield, Hanmer Springs, Culverden, Cheviot.
North Canterbury network signatures
What drives Rangiora and Kaiapoi outages
A fast-growing pair of towns surrounded by a large rural and coastal network produces a distinct outage profile. Three patterns dominate the Waimakariri register.
Coastal wind and salt
Waikuku, Pegasus, Leithfield Beach and the coast: easterly gales and salt-laden air age the overhead lines and bring down branches. Storm fronts off the Pacific are the single biggest cause of coastal Waimakariri outages.
Hill snow and the Hurunui
Oxford, Loburn, Hanmer Springs and Culverden: snow load and southerly snaps trip the hill feeders, and the alpine spurs up to Hanmer can take hours to restore when access roads are affected.
Subdivision growth
Rangiora, Kaiapoi and Pegasus are among the faster-growing towns in Canterbury. New subdivisions mean contractor cable strikes on freshly buried lines are a recurring source of short, localised town outages.
A North Canterbury tip
The most common Rangiora mistake is calling Orion instead of MainPower. Orion runs Christchurch and Selwyn, but the Waimakariri district is MainPower territory. Save 0800 30 90 80 in your phone now, so you are not searching for the right network in the dark during a storm.
If a power surge damages an appliance in Rangiora
MainPower does not publish a consumer damage-claim portal, so surge-damaged appliances are normally handled through your own cover rather than the lines company. Here is the practical path North Canterbury households use.
- 1Call 0800 30 90 80 and ask for the incident reference, the start time and any recorded cause. You will need this if you make a claim.
- 2Lodge the claim through your home contents insurance, the usual route for surge damage. Keep photos, the original receipt and a registered electrician's report.
- 3Send a short written request to your electricity retailer as well, quoting 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. Storm and snow events are usually treated as weather, not negligence.
Rangiora questions
Frequently asked questions: Rangiora outages
MainPower, not Orion, on 0800 30 90 80, 24 hours a day. The same number covers Kaiapoi, Woodend, Pegasus, Oxford, Amberley and the wider Waimakariri and Hurunui districts. For a hazard such as a downed line, dial 111 first.
No. This is one of the most common mix-ups in Canterbury. Orion runs Christchurch city, Selwyn and parts of the plains, but the Waimakariri district, including Rangiora and Kaiapoi, is on the MainPower network. If you call Orion for a Rangiora outage they will simply redirect you, so go straight to 0800 30 90 80.
Check the community map above to see whether a neighbour has reported a cut, then open the MainPower live outage map for the official list of current and planned outages. If your neighbours still have power, the fault is more likely your own switchboard or main fuse, so check those before calling.
A single fault in the town centres: typically 30 to 90 minutes. Coastal Waikuku and Pegasus during an easterly storm: 1 to 3 hours. Rural and hill spurs out to Oxford, Hanmer Springs or Culverden: 2 to 6 hours, longer in snow or when access roads are blocked.
Yes. MainPower gives advance notice of planned maintenance, usually by letter or email, and lists upcoming work on its outage map. If someone in your home relies on mains power for medical equipment, register as a medically-dependent customer with your retailer so the network can give you proactive notice.
MainPower 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 storm and snow 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.