Cable fault caused Auckland CBD power cut

A cable fault left more than 400 Auckland central business district premises without electricity for up to 80 minutes yesterday morning.

The power cut caused disruption to traffic lights, a parking building and to personal computer users, particularly at the Auckland University of Technology Wellesley Campus and Auckland Central Library.

A police patrol stepped in to free a traffic jam at the intersection of Queen St and Victoria St when the lights went out.

The cut came at a bad time - during the 9am rush - at the high-capacity Wilson Parking building in Kitchener St.

A company spokesman said cardholders could neither get in nor out without the barrier being manually lifted, the office till jammed shut and customers were left to cope with pitch-black stairwells.

The Art Gallery in Kitchener St kept its doors closed to visitors.

The espresso machine was eerily silent at the Black Crow Cafe where staff member Tuwhiti Happy said he felt sorry for the troops of customers who missed out on their 10 o'clock caffein fix.

The fault was in an underground cable supplying power from the Liverpool St substation to about 400 customers in Airedale, St Paul, Lorne and Kitchener Streets.

Vector spokeswoman Charlene White said the cable was not old and had not given trouble before.

The fault occurred at 9.02 am and power was restored to all customers at 10.20am.

Ms White said an investigation was being carried out into why the cable tripped in Airedale St.

She said such a fault was not uncommon.

It was traced by network monitoring computers and the company's contractors working in the CBD diverted to the troublespot as quickly as the traffic permitted.

The power cut came less than a month after a blackout in central Auckland which left 7500 consumers without electricity from 6.45 pm.

Half of the customers had power back on within 90 minutes but some waited three hours.

Vector said that power cut was caused by a fault in an underground power cable.