By Fallen line, sparks or smoke
Stay at least 8 metres back, keep children and pets clear, and dial 111 before any other number. Lines on the ground can still be live. After a southerly storm, do not assume the network has been isolated automatically.
Wellington Electricity
One lines company across Wellington City, Hutt Valley and Porirua
Faults and emergencies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Wellington Electricity will not be able to give an exact ETA during a major southerly: trust the live map for the most current restoration window.
Coverage: Wellington CBD, Karori, Newtown, Miramar, Kilbirnie, Island Bay, Johnsonville, Khandallah, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt, Wainuiomata, Stokes Valley, Porirua, Tawa, Whitby.
Power outage in Kapiti or Paraparaumu: Electra on 0800 363 8728. Power outage in Masterton, Carterton or rural Wairarapa: Powerco on 0800 27 27 27. Tararua district (Dannevirke, Pahiatua): Scanpower on 06 374 7300.
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.
Unable to load outage data. Please try again later.
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.
Three Wellington-only hazards
Why Wellington outages do not look like Auckland outages
The capital's network was built for a city of gullies and prevailing winds. Three local hazards shape almost every reliability statistic on the Wellington Electricity register.
Southerly gusts
Brooklyn, Mt Victoria, Roseneath, Hataitai: exposed ridge feeders trip in winds above 90 km/h. Most southerly outages clear within 2 to 6 hours, but successive fronts can stack faults faster than crews can restore them.
Hutt River corridor
Stokes Valley, Naenae, Wainuiomata: overhead spurs run beside the river. Heavy rain undermines pole footings, and tree fall after a wet southerly is the leading cause of multi-hour outages in the Hutt.
Seismic isolation gear
Wellington CBD, Te Aro, Pipitea: the network's earthquake-rated transformers trip on shake events above ~M4.5. Power usually returns in 30 to 90 minutes once crews verify no underground damage, even when the quake itself caused no visible harm.
Reliability benchmark
Wellington Electricity's most recent Commerce Commission disclosure shows an annual SAIDI of around 90 to 130 minutes per connection: better than the rural networks but consistently worse than Vector Auckland, driven by the wind exposure. If your suburb has had multiple outages in a winter, that is the network functioning as designed, not malfunctioning.
Fried appliance? Wellington Electricity damage claim
Wellington Electricity accepts damage claims for appliances killed by network surges or under-voltage events. The path is single-channel and rewards proper paperwork.
- 1Call 0800 248 148 and ask for the incident number for your outage. Without this, the claim is rejected on entry.
- 2Email [email protected] within 30 days. Subject line: "Damage claim, [incident number], [your address]".
- 3Attach: photos of the dead appliance, brand and model, original purchase receipt where possible, registered electrician's report. Receipts kept on Gmail or your retailer's app count.
- 4Decision in 4 to 6 weeks. Storm-driven outages are typically refused (force majeure): in that case, take the claim to your contents insurer instead.
Wellington nuance
If the outage followed a recorded earthquake, the lines company is likely to invoke the natural disaster exclusion. Your EQCover / Natural Hazards Insurance covers structural damage but not appliances. Contents insurance is the right channel: most Wellington policies include surge-damaged appliance cover up to $1,000 to $2,000 per item.
Wellington-specific questions
Frequently asked questions: Wellington outages
Wellington Electricity, 24 hours a day, on 0800 248 148. The same number covers Wellington City, Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Porirua. For a fallen line or any hazard, dial 111 first.
Exposed ridge feeders (Brooklyn, Mt Victoria, Roseneath, Hataitai, Houghton Bay) carry overhead lines that swing in winds above 90 km/h. Conductors clash or wind-blown debris bridges the wires, triggering a protective trip. Most southerly outages clear in 2 to 6 hours: successive fronts within 24 hours can extend restoration into the next day because crews chase the highest-density faults first.
For shakes around magnitude 4.5 or above near the CBD, the seismic-rated transformers and switchgear can trip protectively. This is by design: the network isolates before any underground damage can spread. Power usually returns within 30 to 90 minutes once crews verify no physical damage. A bigger event (M6+) would trigger a wider, manual restoration sequence.
Single fault on an urban feeder: 30 to 90 minutes. Single fault in the Hutt Valley or western suburbs: 1 to 3 hours. Major southerly with multiple lines down: 6 to 24 hours, occasionally longer in Wainuiomata or Stokes Valley. Wellington Electricity has restored the supply to over 95 per cent of customers within 24 hours of every major wind event since 2018.
Some retailers, yes. Electric Kiwi and Octopus have outage credit policies (NZ$10 to NZ$50 for events over 12 hours). Mercury, Contact, Genesis and Meridian handle requests case by case. Email the retailer with: incident number, address, outage start and end times. A polite, factual email is far more effective than a phone call.
Utilities Disputes, the free independent ombudsman for electricity, gas, water and broadband. You must first have a final written answer from Wellington Electricity or your retailer that you disagree with. Decisions up to NZ$50,000 are binding on the provider but not on you.
For most Wellington households on Wellington Electricity's urban feeders, a generator is over-engineered: average annual outage minutes are 90 to 130 and most events clear inside a few hours. The case strengthens if you live in Wainuiomata, Stokes Valley, the Wellington hill suburbs or the Akatarawa fringe, or if you have medical-dependent equipment, frozen-stock business inventory or you work from home. A small 2 to 3 kVA petrol portable generator (NZ$700 to NZ$1,500) plus extension leads runs the fridge, modem and a couple of LEDs. A hard-wired automatic transfer switch system (NZ$3,000 to NZ$8,000 installed) is overkill outside of medical or business-critical loads. Whatever you buy, never run a petrol generator indoors and never back-feed into the wall: a registered electrician must commission any hard-wired solution.