KEY POINTS:
Avondale was without power for the second time in two days yesterday, causing frustrating waits for motorists in peak-hour traffic.
Shops were forced to close early and food outlets had to discard stock.
From 4.50pm, about 800 homes and businesses were without power because of an underground cable fault.
Traffic lights at the intersections of Great North Rd and Ash St and Ash St and Rosebank Rd were out and police had to direct traffic.
Inspector Matt Sillars of the police northern communications centre issued a warning about the heavy traffic and asked motorists to use alternative routes where possible.
Vector spokeswoman Phillipa White said power was restored about 6.50pm using an alternative source and linesmen would dig along Ash St this morning to find the faulty cable.
Power was out for about three hours on Monday when a transformer exploded on the corner of Geddes Tce and St Jude St, cutting power to 1500 homes and businesses.
A man was taken to hospital with burns to his legs. Middlemore spokeswoman Lauren Young last night said he was recovering in a stable condition in the burns unit.
Police were also directing traffic and medical centres had to hastily rearrange appointments and put medicines in chilly bins to preserve them.
Ms White said yesterday's power cut was unrelated to the one on Monday.
McDonald's on Ash St had to close and discard "mountains" of food that had been cooking.
Assistant manager Kim Tan said the store had been preparing for the dinner rush so had had extra fries and meat patties on the grill.
A representative from McDonald's headquarters visited the store when the power was restored to assess whether food that had been stored in fridges was still edible.
Staff were "waiting around having a long break" until the power came back on, Mr Tan said.
The Shell petrol station on Ash St was also without power and had to check all its ice-creams hadn't melted.
A woman at Avondale Physiotherapy Clinic on Rosebank Rd said the clinic's phones had been down all day and they had to get calls diverted to their cellphones.
"It's a bit of a pain," she said.
Telecom spokesman Mark Watts said various phone lines in parts of the city were down yesterday after a two-minute powercut shortly after 9am in central Auckland.
