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. Beside the Hutt River, a pole undermined by floodwater can drop a conductor across a stopbank track: treat every fallen line as 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 in the valley see what is happening. 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.
WE
Wellington Electricity
One lines company across Lower Hutt and Wainuiomata
Faults and emergencies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Wellington Electricity will not give an exact ETA during a major southerly: trust the live map for the most current restoration window.
Coverage: Lower Hutt CBD, Petone, Alicetown, Naenae, Taita, Avalon, Epuni, Waterloo, Stokes Valley, Wainuiomata, Eastbourne, Wainui.
Three Hutt-only factors
Why Lower Hutt outages have their own pattern
The Hutt Valley is a flat river plain ringed by steep hills, and its network reflects that geography. Three local factors drive most of the outages on this part of the Wellington Electricity register.
River corridor spurs
Naenae, Taita, Avalon: overhead spurs run beside the Hutt River. Heavy rain undermines pole footings, and tree fall after a wet southerly is the leading cause of multi-hour outages in the valley.
Wainuiomata hill
Wainuiomata, Wainui: the suburb is fed across an exposed hill road, so a single fault on the supply over the saddle can take the whole valley dark and restoration takes longer than on the flat.
Petone foreshore
Petone, Alicetown, Seaview: the harbour edge mixes old industrial feeders with salt exposure. Storm surge and king tides can flood ground-level kiosks, taking out blocks of the foreshore at once.
Hutt Valley tip
If you live in Wainuiomata or up against the hills in Stokes Valley, a small petrol portable generator (NZ$700 to NZ$1,500) for the fridge, modem and a couple of lights is a reasonable buy given the longer restoration times. Never run a generator indoors and never back-feed into the wall: a registered electrician must commission any hard-wired solution.
Fried appliance in the Hutt? The claim path
Most Hutt outages are weather-driven, which usually puts an appliance claim outside what the lines company will pay. Your contents insurance, with a written request to your retailer, is normally the right channel.
- 1Call 0800 248 148 and ask for the incident number for your outage. Note the start time, the duration and any visible cause such as a tree on the line.
- 2Lodge the claim with your contents insurer and send a written request to your retailer. Most Hutt policies cover surge-damaged appliances up to NZ$1,000 to NZ$2,000 per item.
- 3Attach: photos of the dead appliance, the brand and model, the original purchase receipt where possible, and a registered electrician's report. Appliances under 5 years old fare best.
- 4Allow 4 to 8 weeks. A southerly storm or flood event is force majeure, so the lines company will normally decline a fault claim and the insurer becomes the path.
Where to escalate
If a claim is rejected and you disagree with the final written answer, you can take it free of charge to Utilities Disputes, the independent electricity ombudsman. Decisions up to NZ$50,000 are binding on the provider but not on you.
Lower Hutt-specific questions
Frequently asked questions: Lower Hutt outages
Wellington Electricity, 24 hours a day, on 0800 248 148. The same number covers Lower Hutt, Petone, Naenae, Stokes Valley and Wainuiomata. For a fallen line or any hazard, dial 111 first.
Wainuiomata is fed across an exposed hill road from the main valley network. A single fault on that supply over the saddle, often tree fall or wind in a southerly, can take the whole suburb dark at once. Because crews have to travel over the hill to patrol the line, restoration usually takes longer than for a fault on the flat valley floor.
Naenae, Taita and Avalon are served partly by overhead spurs that run beside the river. Heavy rain softens pole footings and saturates the ground, and a wet southerly brings branches and whole trees down onto the conductors. This is the leading cause of multi-hour outages in the valley, and crews work the highest-density faults first.
Single fault on an urban valley feeder: 30 to 90 minutes. Wainuiomata or the hill fringe: 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 over 95 per cent of customers within 24 hours of every major wind event since 2018.
Yes, normally by letter or email at least 5 working days before the work, and the same shutdowns are listed on the live outage map under planned outages. If you have a medical-dependent customer in the household (oxygen concentrator, dialysis, CPAP), register with your retailer so the network can give proactive notice and confirm contingencies.
Most Hutt outages are weather-driven, which puts them outside what the lines company normally pays. Take the claim to your contents insurer with a written request to your retailer, attaching the incident number, photos, the original receipt and a registered electrician's report. Only where the network itself was negligent (faulty equipment, poor maintenance) is a fault claim to Wellington Electricity likely to succeed.
Nearby outage guides
Power outages across the Wellington region
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 Wellington region.
See the full Wellington outage guide, or browse every New Zealand region.