By Fallen line, sparks or smoke
Stay back at least 8 metres, keep clear of standing water near a downed line, and call 111 first. Around the Te Puke orchards a line brought down by an artificial-shelter panel or windblown tree can sit live among the vines.
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. Call the number below if your report shows the outage is on the network.
Powerco
Te Puke and the eastern orchard country
National Powerco faults line, answered 24/7. The same number covers Te Puke township and the surrounding orchard and coastal network.
Coverage: Te Puke township, Paengaroa, Maketu, Pongakawa, Rangiuru, No.1 Road and the surrounding Western Bay of Plenty kiwifruit orchards.
Kiwifruit flats and coast
What drives Te Puke outages
Te Puke sits on warm, sheltered flats that make it ideal for kiwifruit, but the orchard cover and coastal exposure together set the local outage pattern.
Orchard shelter and machinery
No.1 Road, Rangiuru, the orchard blocks: shelter cloth, tall hedges and harvest machinery work close to overhead lines. A panel torn loose in a gale or a sprayer touching a conductor is a frequent cause of a localised cut.
Ex-tropical storms
Maketu, the coastal edge: the eastern Bay catches the tail of tropical systems tracking down from the north. Heavy rain, slips and wind during these events drive the largest multi-property outages of the year.
Spread-out coastal feeders
Pongakawa, Maketu, Little Waihi: coastal and rural settlements sit at the end of long lines. Restoration there takes longer than in the township because crews must drive out and patrol the feeder to locate the fault.
A Te Puke tip
Kiwifruit orchards run heavy packhouse, cool-store and frost-protection load. If the shed or coolstore loses power but the house stays lit, check the orchard sub-board and motor protection before calling the fault line. Through harvest and frost season, a generator changeover wired in advance keeps the critical load running if a network outage hits at the wrong moment.
Appliance damaged after a Te Puke outage? Your claim path
Powerco does not run a standing public surge-claim portal, so for a Te Puke household the dependable route is through your insurer and your retailer. Document the event while it is fresh.
- 1Call 0800 27 27 27 and ask for the incident reference, the time and the recorded cause of the outage.
- 2Open a claim with your contents insurer, since surge damage to appliances is normally covered by a standard contents policy.
- 3Send a written notice to your electricity retailer with the incident reference, photos, the receipt and a registered electrician's report linking the failure to the network event.
- 4Expect 4 to 8 weeks. Appliances under 5 years old with a clear electrician's report do best; pure-weather outages are usually treated as force majeure.
Te Puke questions
Frequently asked questions: Te Puke outages
Powerco, 24 hours a day, on 0800 27 27 27. The same number covers Te Puke township, Paengaroa, Maketu, Pongakawa and the surrounding orchards. For a hazard such as a fallen line, dial 111 first.
Use the live community map above to spot nearby reports, then confirm against the official Powerco outage map, which lists active and planned outages by address. If nothing is plotted and only your home is affected, the fault is most likely your own switchboard, not the network.
A single fault in Te Puke township is often restored within 1 to 2 hours. Outages on the coastal and rural feeders toward Maketu or Pongakawa can run 2 to 6 hours, and an ex-tropical storm bringing slips and trees down across several lines can take longer because each feeder must be patrolled and cleared.
Yes. Powerco gives at least 5 working days notice of planned maintenance by letter or email, and shows the work on the live outage map under "Planned". Households or orchards with someone medically dependent on power should register through their electricity retailer for proactive notice, which matters most during the picking season.
Powerco has no standing public surge-claim portal, so start with your contents insurance, which usually covers appliance damage from power surges. Also send a written request to your electricity retailer with the incident reference, photos, the receipt and a registered electrician's report. Claims tied to a specific network equipment fault succeed more often than those from storm or wind outages.
Nearby outage guides
Power outages across the Bay of Plenty
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 Bay of Plenty.
See the regional hub: Bay of Plenty power outages, or browse every New Zealand region.