By Live 24/7 Northpower fault line
Power out in the Northpower network area?
Call Northpower on 0800 104 040, 24 hours a day. Your retailer cannot dispatch a crew. For a fallen line, sparks or any fire risk, dial 111 first, stay at least 8 metres clear, then ring Northpower.
The live network status is at www.northpower.com. Check it first, the cut may already be logged.
Northpower at a glance
The numbers behind your network bill
Connection points (ICPs)
~62,000
Whangarei + Kaipara
Network conductor
~6,000 km
Rural-heavy, cyclone-prone
24/7 fault line
0800 104 040
Free-call, NZ-wide
ComCom regulatory path
DPP4 2025-30
Default Price-Quality Path
Where Northpower owns the wires
Coverage: Whangarei, Kaipara and northern Rodney
Northpower's network runs from south of the Far North district (Top Energy boundary at Kaiwaka) down through Whangarei and Kaipara, plus the northern Rodney area down to Wellsford.
| Area | Density profile | Network type |
|---|---|---|
| Whangarei CBD + Onerahi | Provincial urban | Mixed |
| Whangarei outer suburbs | Suburban + lifestyle | Mostly overhead |
| Kaipara coast + Dargaville | Small town + rural | Overhead, long feeders |
| Northland rural (Maungatapere, Hikurangi) | Sparse farms | Overhead, cyclone-prone |
| Rodney (Wellsford north, Maungaturoto) | Rural + lifestyle blocks | Overhead, salt + storm exposure |
Source: Northpower Asset Management Plan and Commerce Commission Information Disclosure. North of Kaiwaka the network transitions to Top Energy; south toward Wellsford transitions to Vector.
The role, decoded
What Northpower actually does (and does not do)
Northpower is a regulated electricity distributor: poles, wires, transformers, substations and the crews that maintain them. It is not a generator and not a retailer.
What Northpower owns and operates
- · Sub-transmission lines from Transpower grid exit points (GXPs).
- · 11kV and 22kV distribution feeders across the service area.
- · Distribution transformers and pillar boxes on your street.
- · Low-voltage service mains to your meter.
- · The 24/7 control room, fault crews and SCADA operations.
- · Network connection approvals (new builds, solar export, large EV chargers).
What Northpower does not do
- · Generate the electricity (gentailers and independents do).
- · Set the c/kWh rate on your bill (your retailer does).
- · Send you a monthly bill or take direct debits.
- · Own your smart meter: most are run by independent metering equipment providers (Intellihub, SmartCo, Metrix).
- · Manage retail plans, fixed terms or loyalty credits.
The hidden 30 to 45 per cent
How the Northpower lines charge shows up on your bill
Roughly 30 to 45 per cent of your retail bill is the Northpower lines pass-through, collected by your retailer and paid through. It has a fixed daily component, a variable energy component, and a time-of-use overlay.
| Component | Standard user | Low user | What drives it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed daily charge | ~100 to 160 c/day (rural premium) | ~15 to 30 c/day (capped by regulation) | Capacity, sub-network |
| Variable energy charge | ~8 to 14 c/kWh | ~12 to 20 c/kWh (low-user offset phasing out) | Volume + time-of-use window |
| Peak ToU multiplier | Up to ~2x on winter weekday peaks | Same multiplier applies | Cold-evening grid stress (~7-9am, 5-9pm winter) |
Indicative ranges drawn from Northpower's Pricing Methodology and Commerce Commission Information Disclosure. Exact c/day and c/kWh depend on your ICP's sub-pricing zone. Always check the lines-charge line item on your own bill.
What most pages will not tell you
Three structural facts that change how Northpower affects your bill
A lines company that also builds for everyone else
Northpower has one of NZ's largest electricity contracting businesses, doing line construction, substation work and fibre rollout for other lines companies and Chorus across NZ. The contracting revenue is regulated separately from the regulated distribution business and effectively cross-subsidises the parent network. Northpower trust dividend recipients quietly benefit when Powerco or Vector pay Northpower's contracting arm.
Cyclone exposure baked into the planning
Northland is the most cyclone-exposed region in NZ. Northpower's network reliability statistics look weak in raw SAIDI terms relative to urban LCs, but the comparison is misleading: with so much overhead line through tree-prone rural country, single weather events can dominate annual numbers. Northpower's capex prioritises vegetation management and selective hardening on the most-exposed feeders, more than greenfield growth capex.
The trust dividend is real but variable
The Northpower Electric Power Trust pays an annual dividend to consumers in the Northpower territory. The size varies year-to-year (recent years NZ$100 to $250 per connection range) depending on profitability and capex commitments. After a cyclone year the dividend is typically lower because rebuild capex eats into distributable profit. Confirm with your retailer that the credit is being applied to your ICP, not the landlord's.
How to reach Northpower
Northpower contact methods, by the reason you are calling
| Reason | Channel | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Power cut, fallen line, network fault | 0800 104 040 | 24/7, free-call |
| Life-threatening hazard | 111, then Northpower | 24/7 |
| Appliance damage claim | Claim form on Northpower site | Online, 4 to 8 week processing |
| Planned outage notification | Live status board | 5 to 10 working days notice |
| Billing question | Your retailer (Northpower does not bill end customers) | Retailer's hours |
| Unresolved complaint | Utilities Disputes (free, independent) | After Northpower's final written answer |
Where your time actually pays
What a Northpower household should actually do
You cannot change who delivers your electricity. You can change what you do about it.
Rural Northland: assume multi-day outages are part of life
Major cyclones consistently take rural Northland off the grid for days. Generators, hot-water-cylinder cycling, battery banks for medical equipment, and grid-isolation switching for septic / pump systems are not optional. Capture every outage timestamp from the live map for any damage claim later.
Damage claim: equipment failure on restoration, not the cyclone itself
Like every NZ distributor, Northpower rejects pure force-majeure claims. Frame the claim around equipment failure on re-energisation: photos of dead appliances, age, electrician's report, the outage timestamp. That framing materially raises acceptance rates over a generic \"storm killed my fridge\" submission.
Vegetation management: report visible hazards before they bite
Northpower runs an ongoing vegetation contract but cannot inspect every metre of overhead line. If you see a tree leaning into a conductor on a private property, report it on the corporate site. Pre-event tree work is dramatically cheaper than post-event rebuild and Northpower has structural incentive to act on credible reports.
The Selectra expert answers
Frequently asked questions about Northpower
Northpower's 24/7 fault line is 0800 104 040, free-call. Use it for any power cut, downed line or fault across Whangarei, Kaipara and northern Rodney. For an immediate hazard, dial 111 first.
Northpower is owned by the Northpower Electric Power Trust, a community trust serving electricity consumers in the Northpower territory (Whangarei, Kaipara and parts of Rodney). The trust distributes an annual dividend back to consumers, which varies by year depending on profitability and capex commitments. The Commerce Commission regulates Northpower's prices and reliability through DPP4.
Yes. Northpower runs one of NZ's largest electricity contracting businesses, building lines, substations and fibre for other distributors and Chorus across the country. This is a separately accounted commercial arm and contributes to Northpower's total profitability and ultimately to the trust dividend.
Because Northpower's network is rural and cyclone-exposed. Northland records more cyclones and severe wind events per year than any other NZ region. Vector's metropolitan network is largely underground in central suburbs; Northpower has thousands of kilometres of overhead line through tree-prone rural country. The same fault statistics, normalised for rural exposure, would put Northpower among the better-managed rural distributors.
Pure storm-driven claims are usually rejected as force majeure. Frame the claim around equipment failure on restoration: photos of the dead appliance, age, original receipt, the outage timestamp from the live map, and a registered electrician's report linking failure to the surge when power came back. Submit via northpower.com. Processing 4 to 8 weeks.
Roughly 30 to 45 per cent for a typical residential ICP, before any trust dividend. The mix is a fixed daily charge (around 100 to 160 c/day on rural standard-user tariffs) plus a variable c/kWh charge with a winter peak multiplier. Rural Kaipara ICPs sit higher on the fixed daily than urban Whangarei due to the long-feeder cost-recovery model.
No. Northpower is the regulated monopoly distributor for Whangarei, Kaipara and northern Rodney. You can switch retailer any day, but the Northpower lines charge is passed through unchanged. North of Northpower (Far North district) the network transitions to Top Energy; south toward Wellsford transitions to Vector (see the coverage notes above for the dedicated guides).