Hazard or fallen line

Stay back 8 metres minimum and dial 111 first. In cyclone events, follow Civil Defence guidance: do not approach flooded properties before they are isolated.

Northpower logo

Northpower

Whangarei, Kaipara and northern Rodney

~57k connections
0800 104 040

24/7 faults line. Northpower also operates a free vegetation-management line for households who want trees near lines trimmed.

Coverage: Whangarei CBD, Tikipunga, Onerahi, Maunu, Kamo, Kensington, Ruakaka, Marsden, Dargaville, Maungaturoto, Mangawhai, Wellsford, Te Hana.

Open Northpower live outage map See full Northpower guide

Power outage in Kerikeri, Kaitaia, Kawakawa or Paihia (Far North)? Call Top Energy on 0800 867 363. Searches for top energy power outage Northland today route through the same 24/7 line.

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.

Live power outages in New Zealand
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Source: user reports · Selectra

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.

Before you submit

Have you called your lines company first? They are the only party that can dispatch a crew. This form is a community signal that helps neighbours, not an emergency channel. For a fallen line or any hazard, call 111 immediately.

Anonymous submission

Northland-specific patterns

Cyclones, trees and the August 2024 tower fall

Northland's outage profile is dominated by major events rather than steady wear: when something happens, it tends to be regional and headline-grabbing.

Ex-tropical cyclones

Cyclones Gabrielle (2023), Hale (2023) and subsequent La Nina seasons hit Northland directly. Mangawhai, Maungaturoto, Tutukaka coast, rural Kaipara: overhead feeders saw multi-day outages and pole loss.

Transmission incident risk

The August 2024 Tangiwai-Glorit tower collapse cut transmission to 88,000 Northland homes for hours. The lines company can do nothing about Transpower outages: ETA depends entirely on national grid restoration.

Vegetation overgrowth

Rural Whangarei, Tikipunga fringe, Kamo Heights: Northland's subtropical growth rate means overhead lines need more frequent tree clearance than the rest of NZ. Northpower runs a free vegetation-management line that household owners can use to flag concerns.

Cyclone preparedness, household level

Northland Civil Defence recommends every household keeps: torches with spare batteries, 3 days of drinking water, a small camping stove and gas bottle, a battery-powered radio, and a printed list of emergency numbers (including Northpower's 0800 104 040 and Top Energy's 0800 867 363). After Gabrielle, mobile reception became patchy in rural Kaipara: the printed list matters.

Northpower damage claim, Whangarei

Northpower handles claims directly through its customer services team. Cyclone-driven outages are usually excluded as force majeure; equipment-failure claims have a better track record.

  1. 1Call 0800 104 040 for the incident reference.
  2. 2Email [email protected] within 30 days with the claim packet.
  3. 3Photos, original receipts, electrician's report linking the failure to the network event.
  4. 4Decision in 4 to 8 weeks. Storm-driven claims usually directed to contents insurance.

Northland questions

Frequently asked questions: Whangarei outages

Northpower, on 0800 104 040, 24/7. The same number covers Dargaville, Maungaturoto, Mangawhai and northern Rodney. For Kerikeri, Kaitaia or anywhere in the Far North, call Top Energy on 0800 867 363. For a hazard, dial 111 first.

A Transpower transmission tower in the Glorit area (Northland) collapsed during maintenance work, cutting the main grid connection to Northland and leaving about 88,000 homes dark. Power was restored progressively over the following hours and days as alternative grid paths and local generation came online. The event was a Transpower transmission outage, not a Northpower lines fault: neither lines company nor retailer could materially speed up restoration.

Single urban fault: 30 to 90 minutes. Suburban (Onerahi, Kamo, Tikipunga): 1 to 2 hours. Rural Whangarei or Kaipara: 2 to 6 hours. Major cyclone event: 1 to 7 days in the worst-affected rural areas. Northland Base Hospital, water-pumping and telecom infrastructure are priority restoration.

Pure cyclone events are typically excluded as force majeure. Your better path is your contents insurance: most Northland policies cover spoiled food (sub-limit usually $200 to $500) and surge-damaged appliances after a storm event. Northpower's claims process accepts equipment-failure claims that occur during but are demonstrably independent of the storm: an electrician's report distinguishing the two is decisive.

For households where outages over 24 hours are a real risk (rural Kaipara, Mangawhai coast, Tutukaka), a small portable generator with extension leads to fridge and key outlets is a sensible backup. Hire one for short-term needs, buy a 2-3 kVA unit (NZ$700 to NZ$1,500) for repeated use. Hardwired automatic-transfer systems require a registered electrician and a notified change to your installation: cost typically NZ$3,000 to NZ$8,000.