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. On the rural roads out to Te Marua and Whitemans Valley, a line dropped by a fallen branch can lie unseen across the carriageway: do not drive over it.
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 at the top of 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 Upper Hutt and the upper valley
Faults and emergencies, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Wellington Electricity will not give an exact ETA during a major storm: trust the live map for the most current restoration window.
Coverage: Upper Hutt CBD, Trentham, Heretaunga, Silverstream, Pinehaven, Totara Park, Maoribank, Te Marua, Whitemans Valley, Wallaceville, Clouston Park.
Three Upper Hutt-only factors
Why Upper Hutt outages have their own pattern
Upper Hutt is the inland, bush-ringed top of the valley, with long feeders reaching out to rural-edge suburbs. Three local factors shape most of the outages on this part of the Wellington Electricity register.
Bush-edge spurs
Te Marua, Whitemans Valley, Pinehaven: long overhead spurs run out to rural-edge homes under the bush. Tree fall after rain or wind is the leading cause of the longer multi-hour outages up here.
Akatarawa fringe
Birchville, Brown Owl, Maoribank: the northern edge meets the Akatarawa hills, where wind funnelled down the ranges drives faults and crews have the longest distances to travel for a repair.
Flood plain
Trentham, Wallaceville, Clouston Park: the valley floor floods after sustained rain, which softens pole footings and can flood ground-level equipment, taking out a block of the settled suburbs at once.
Upper Hutt tip
If you live on a rural-edge spur out at Te Marua, Whitemans Valley or the Akatarawa fringe, restoration takes longer because crews travel further. Keep a torch and a charged power bank handy, and a small petrol portable generator for the fridge and modem is a reasonable buy. Never run a generator indoors and never back-feed into the wall: a registered electrician must commission any hard-wired solution.
Fried appliance in Upper Hutt? The claim path
Most Upper 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 Upper 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 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.
Upper Hutt-specific questions
Frequently asked questions: Upper Hutt outages
Wellington Electricity, 24 hours a day, on 0800 248 148. The same number covers Upper Hutt, Trentham, Silverstream, Totara Park and Te Marua. For a fallen line or any hazard, dial 111 first.
Te Marua, Whitemans Valley and the Akatarawa fringe are served by long overhead spurs that run out under bush. After rain or wind a branch or tree comes down on the line, and because crews have to travel a long rural route to find and clear the fault, restoration takes longer than for a fault in the settled centre of Upper Hutt.
Sustained rain can flood the Trentham and Wallaceville flats, softening pole footings and occasionally flooding ground-level equipment. That can take out a block of the settled suburbs at once. Once the water recedes and crews confirm the equipment is safe, supply is normally restored fairly quickly on the valley floor.
Single fault on an urban Trentham or Silverstream feeder: 30 to 90 minutes. Rural-edge spurs (Te Marua, Whitemans Valley, Akatarawa): 1 to 4 hours. Major storm with multiple lines down: 6 to 24 hours. 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 Upper 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.