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. In the South Waikato pine country a tree or limb across a line is the usual cause, and the conductor can stay live on the forest floor.
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
Tokoroa, Putaruru and the South Waikato
National Powerco faults line, answered 24/7. The same number covers Tokoroa, Putaruru, Tirau and the surrounding forestry and farm network.
Coverage: Tokoroa, Putaruru, Tirau, Arapuni, Lichfield, Kinleith, and the surrounding South Waikato forestry blocks and farms.
Forestry plateau lines
What drives South Waikato outages
Tokoroa and Putaruru sit on the higher, cooler Mamaku plateau, ringed by some of the largest pine plantations in the country. That landscape sets the local outage pattern.
Tree fall from the forests
Kinleith, Lichfield, the plantation roads: lines threading between pine blocks are exposed to falling trees and shed limbs in a blow. This is the single most common cause of the longer South Waikato outages.
Frost, ice and cold snaps
Across the plateau: winter mornings here are among the frostiest in the North Island. Heavy frost and the odd snow flurry add load to conductors and equipment, and cold snaps push demand up across the town.
Town vs plantation restoration
Tokoroa and Putaruru townships: compact urban feeders restore quickly. Faults out on the long forestry lines toward Arapuni or Kinleith take longer because crews must drive and patrol the line through the blocks to find the cause.
A South Waikato tip
If only your house is dark while the rest of the street is lit, the fault is on your side of the meter, not Powerco's. Reset the main switch and any tripped RCD before you ring the fault line. Given the cold winters here, keep a couple of blankets and a charged phone bank handy: a plantation-line outage in a southerly can run several hours.
Appliance damaged after a Tokoroa outage? Your claim path
Powerco does not run a standing public surge-claim portal, so the reliable route for a South Waikato household is through your insurer and your retailer. Capture the details while the event is fresh.
- 1Call 0800 27 27 27 and ask for the incident reference, the time and the recorded cause of the outage.
- 2Lodge a claim with your contents insurer, since appliance damage from a power surge is normally covered by a standard contents policy.
- 3Send a written notice to your electricity retailer with the incident reference, photos, the original receipt and a registered electrician's report.
- 4Expect 4 to 8 weeks. Appliances under 5 years old with a clear electrician's report fare best; weather-driven outages such as tree fall are usually treated as force majeure.
Tokoroa questions
Frequently asked questions: Tokoroa outages
Powerco, 24 hours a day, on 0800 27 27 27. The same number covers Tokoroa, Putaruru, Tirau and the surrounding South Waikato. For a hazard such as a fallen line, dial 111 first.
Check the live community map above for nearby reports, then confirm against the official Powerco outage map, which shows active and planned outages by address across the South Waikato. If nothing is listed and only your home is affected, the fault is most likely your own switchboard.
A single fault in Tokoroa or Putaruru township is often back within 1 to 2 hours. Outages on the long forestry lines toward Kinleith, Arapuni or Lichfield can run 2 to 6 hours, and a storm bringing trees down across the plantations can take longer because the line has to be patrolled and cleared before power is restored.
Yes. Powerco gives at least 5 working days notice of planned maintenance by letter or email, and lists the work on the live outage map under "Planned". If a member of your household relies on power for medical equipment, register with your electricity retailer so you get proactive notice ahead of any planned cut.
Powerco has no standing public surge-claim portal, so start with your contents insurance, which usually covers surge damage to appliances. 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 network equipment fault succeed more often than those from tree fall or storm outages.
Nearby outage guides
Power outages across the Waikato
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 Waikato.
See the regional hub: Waikato power outages, or browse every New Zealand region.