Northland power cut: Businesses angry with ‘unacceptably fragile’ infrastructure

Northland businesses are outraged at the fragility of the region’s infrastructure as they continue to mop up from this week’s major power cut.

More than 100,000 Northland power customers were without electricity on Thursday, after a 220 kV transmission pylon collapsed during maintenance.

The cost of the cut is estimated at $60 million and NorthChamber president Tim Robinson said businesses are outraged.

“For us as the business community, we’re getting sick to the eyeballs of our infrastructure failing us and no comprehensive plan for the future.

“Northland’s population has doubled in the last 30 years and we’ve had zero improvement in the infrastructure to cater for that.”

Transpower worked with Northpower and Top Energy to get electricity flowing to most customers by the end of Thursday, but security of supply is still up in the air until the pylon is replaced by a temporary tower, which is expected to be in place by Saturday night.

Transpower, the Electricity Authority and WorkSafe will all review the collapse, with a Government review also a possibility.

Along with the power cut, Northland has suffered from State Highway 1 being closed at Brynderwyn Hills for four months for urgent maintenance. The road is due to reopen on Wednesday.

Further north, the main highway has also been closed by slips at Mangamuka Gorge since August 2022 and will not reopen until Christmas.

Freight also cannot be transported by rail, with the North Auckland Line closed by slips since January 2023 and not due to reopen until the end of next month.

Robinson said for businesses, it all comes on top of Covid disruptions.

“We suffered two and a half years of Covid, then we had one year of rain and substantial storms, this year we had the Brynderwyns closed and now this [power cut].”

The downed pylon turned out all the lights in Northland on Thursday. Photo / Michael Craig

“We’ve survived for the last five years, and quite frankly, we’re done. We want people to come up with solutions and improvements to it, rather than just sound bites for the TV news.”

Robinson believed Northlanders needed to get more vocal about how unacceptable the state of the region’s infrastructure is.

Whangārei mayor Vince Cocurullo agreed Northlanders need to get more vocal about the many years of underinvestment in infrastructure.

“The biggest part of it is that we’re so far away from everybody. We’re now going through a large population growth and lots of people are moving up from Auckland because they don’t want to be in a built-up city environment.”

Cocurullo said organisations like the Northland Corporate Group were turning the tide, launching their own investigation into the benefits of a four-lane expressway to Auckland.

The lack of power resilience has been talked about for many years, he said.

Northland MP Grant McCallum, from National, also agreed Nothlanders needed to be a “squeaky wheel” to get more investment.

“It [the infrastructure] is unacceptably fragile for the people of Northland,” he said.

The unity of Northland’s leadership, to agree on what is important for the region, was also important, he said.

The unity was demonstrated on Friday, where Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Transpower’s executive general manager Mark Ryall met the three Northland mayors, Northland Regional Council chair Geoff Crawford and McCallum.

The Government cares about Northland - Simeon Brown

Brown Brown said he came to Whangārei to gain a better understanding of the impact of the power cut on Northlanders.

Energy Minister Simeon Brown, flanked by Far North mayor Moko Tepania and MP Grant McCallum, says he wants to get to the bottom of what caused the power cut. Photo / Michael Cunningham

“I’m here because the Government cares about Northland. We want to make sure the resilience of this community is a priority.”

Brown said the power cut was “unacceptable” and he is asking the Electricity Authority to review it, as well as considering a Government review.

Transpower executive general manager of grid delivery Mark Ryall apologised for the “inconvenience of people being without power yesterday”.

“It is unacceptable - a pylon shouldn’t just fall down.

“We are committed to getting power fully back up and then finding out what happened, and we will be open and honest with that review.”

While Ryall would not be drawn on what happened, he said it was believed there is no risk that another pylon will fall down.

McCallum said the power generation at Top Energy’s Ngāwhā operation was a “lifesaver” to keep the lights on in Northland while the transmission tower was down.

He would like to see another generator at Ngāwhā, as well as another transmission line between Maungatapere and Kaikohe.

But McCallum pointed out the coalition Government’s Roads of National Significance will prioritise a four-lane replacement for State Highway 1 at Brynderwyn Hills, as well as between Port Marsden Highway and Whangārei.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.