By Fallen line or hazard
Stay back at least 8 metres, keep clear of standing water near a downed line, and call 111 first. An ice-loaded conductor on a Mackenzie high-country feeder can drop silently: assume any fallen line is still live.
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.
Alpine Energy
South Canterbury and the Mackenzie Basin
24/7 faults line. The same number covers the Timaru coast and the high-country network up to Tekapo and Twizel, so tell the operator your town to speed up dispatch.
Coverage: Timaru, Temuka, Pleasant Point, Geraldine, Pareora, Washdyke, Fairlie, Albury, Cave, Tekapo, Twizel, Lake Pukaki.
South Canterbury network signatures
What drives Timaru and Mackenzie outages
A coastal town joined to a vast alpine basin produces two very different outage stories. Three patterns dominate the Alpine Energy register.
High-country snow
Fairlie, Tekapo, Twizel and the Mackenzie: heavy snow loading and freezing rain trip the long alpine feeders, and access roads can close, so restoration up the basin takes far longer than anything on the coast.
Coastal southerlies
Timaru, Washdyke and the coast: southerly storms off the Pacific bring wind and salt that age overhead lines and bring down branches. These are the most common cause of urban South Canterbury cuts.
Irrigation and industry
The plains around Temuka, Pleasant Point and Pareora carry heavy irrigation and processing load. Pump motors and contractor digging near buried cable are a regular source of localised rural faults through the growing season.
A South Canterbury tip
If you live or farm up the Mackenzie, plan for longer outages than coastal Timaru sees. A torch, a charged power bank and a battery radio matter more in Tekapo and Twizel, where a single snow event can keep crews out for hours while they wait for roads to reopen.
If a power surge damages an appliance in Timaru
Alpine Energy 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 path South Canterbury households use.
- 1Call 0800 66 11 77 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. Snow and storm events are usually treated as weather, not negligence.
Timaru questions
Frequently asked questions: Timaru outages
Alpine Energy, the South Canterbury lines company, on 0800 66 11 77, 24 hours a day. The same number covers Temuka, Pleasant Point, Geraldine, Fairlie and the Mackenzie towns of Tekapo and Twizel. For a hazard such as a downed line, dial 111 first.
Check the community map above to see whether a neighbour has reported a cut, then open the Alpine Energy 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 you call.
Tekapo, Twizel and Fairlie sit on long alpine feeders that are exposed to heavy snow and freezing rain, and the access roads can close during a storm. Crews have far further to travel and may have to wait for roads to clear, so a high-country outage routinely lasts hours longer than an equivalent fault on the Timaru coast.
A single fault in central Timaru, Temuka or Pleasant Point: typically 30 to 90 minutes. Coastal suburbs during a southerly storm: 1 to 3 hours. Mackenzie high-country spurs to Tekapo or Twizel: 2 to 8 hours, longer in heavy snow when roads are blocked.
Yes. Alpine Energy 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.
Alpine Energy 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 snow and storm 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.