By Line down under snow or a fallen tree
Stay back at least 8 metres and call 111 first. A conductor brought down by snow load or a tree limb on the foothill spurs above Stratford can still be live, so never approach to clear branches yourself.
Help your neighbours
Live community map & report a power cut
If the houses around you are also dark, 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 on your line. 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 on your road can dispatch a crew. Call the number below if your report shows the outage is on the network.
Powerco
Stratford and central Taranaki
National Powerco faults line, answered 24/7. Central Taranaki calls are routed to crews working the ring plain and foothill spurs.
Coverage: Stratford, Midhirst, Toko, Douglas, Cardiff, Pembroke, Ngaere, and the surrounding ring-plain and Mt Taranaki foothill farms.
Mountain on the doorstep
What drives Stratford outages
Stratford's outage profile is shaped by altitude. The closer a feeder runs to Mt Taranaki, the more it has to deal with snow, ice and the steepest rainfall in the region.
Snow and ice on the foothills
Cardiff, Toko, Pembroke and the eastern hill spurs: winter snow loading bends conductors and trips switches. Access to repair these higher lines is by truck on narrow, sometimes icy rural roads, which lengthens restoration.
Tree fall in heavy rain
Midhirst, Douglas, Ngaere: the bush margins and shelter belts along the eastern feeders shed limbs in a wet southerly. A single branch across a line is one of the most common single-fault causes near Stratford.
Ring-plain dairy strikes
The flat farms around Stratford: as across the rest of Taranaki, tall farm machinery hitting an overhead line causes a steady trickle of localised cuts. The risk climbs through the spring and summer harvest and effluent season.
A Stratford tip for winter
If you live on a foothill road towards Cardiff or Pembroke, a cold snap with snow to low levels is the time outages run longest, because crews drive the lines to find the break. Keep a torch, a charged power bank and a few days of warmth sorted before a forecast southerly, check the map first, then call 0800 27 27 27 if power is still off and neighbours are out too.
Appliance damaged after a Stratford outage
Powerco does not run a public consumer damage-claim portal for central Taranaki, so a surge that kills an appliance is handled through your own cover and your retailer rather than the lines company.
- 1Call 0800 27 27 27 and record the incident reference, the date, the time and the recorded cause.
- 2Claim through your contents insurance first; a sudden power surge is a standard insured event on most NZ household policies.
- 3Send a written request to your electricity retailer in parallel, with photos, the original receipt and a registered electrician's report linking the failure to the supply event.
- 4Allow 4 to 8 weeks. Appliances under 5 years fare best, and snow or storm outages are usually treated as weather rather than negligence.
Stratford questions
Frequently asked questions: Stratford outages
Powerco, on 0800 27 27 27, 24 hours a day. The same number covers Midhirst, Toko, Cardiff, Ngaere and the central Taranaki foothills. If a line is down or you see sparks or smoke, dial 111 first.
Check the live community map above and Powerco's own map at outages.powerco.co.nz. If your neighbours are also out, the fault is on the network and a crew is most likely aware. If only your home is dark, check your main switch and fuses before calling.
The feeders that climb towards Mt Taranaki run through bush and hill country where snow, ice and tree fall are most likely, and the roads to reach them are narrow and slow. A crew often has to patrol the line on foot or by truck to find a break before they can isolate and repair it, which adds time compared with a quick urban fix on the flat.
A fault in Stratford township: 45 to 90 minutes once a crew arrives. A foothill or eastern hill spur towards Cardiff or Pembroke can take 2 to 6 hours, longer in heavy snow. A major regional storm can run well beyond that, with the highest and most remote lines restored last.
Yes. Affected addresses get at least 5 working days notice by letter or email, and the work shows on the live outage map under planned outages. If anyone in the home relies on power for medical equipment, register through your electricity retailer for proactive notice and a contingency check.
There is no public Powerco consumer-claims portal for this network, so your contents insurance is usually the most reliable channel, supported by a written request to your retailer. A registered electrician's report linking the damage to the supply event is the key evidence. Pure-weather outages are generally treated as force majeure, which weakens a direct claim against the lines company.
Nearby outage guides
Power outages across Taranaki
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 Taranaki.
See the regional hub: Taranaki power outages, or browse every New Zealand region.