Tarawera rental homes to be without power in April school holidays

The timing of a scheduled power outage lacks common sense and will leave some holidaymakers and residents without running water, internet or cooking facilities, a frustrated resident and business owner says.

Lines company Unison says there is never a good time to schedule outages but they are necessary to safely carry out significant maintenance.

An outage is planned from 8.30am to 5pm on April 13 and will affect 521 connections at Lake Tarawera.

A further two outages are planned on April 18 and 20 from 8.30am to 4pm affecting 43 homes on Acacia and Pryce Rds. The school holidays generally run from April 6 to 24.

The local ratepayers’ association chairwoman says the power company has given their community plenty of warning about the outages however resident Norman Donald, whose company 2Lakes Holiday Rentals owns 20 holiday rentals in the area says it is frustrating the work is being done during the school holidays.

“To my way of thinking it’s ridiculous.”

Donald said he thought a system upgrade that happened about 18 months ago should have reduced the need for planned power cuts.

He said the business’ more than 20 rental properties would be affected by the largest power cut, during the busy school holiday period.

“I’ve got people coming to stay and there’s no flushing toilet because there’s no water pump,” Donald said.

“They won’t be able to have a shower or cook their breakfast.”

Norman Donald is the business owner of 2Lakes Holiday Rentals. Photo / Andrew Warner

Donald said he had received phone calls from holiday renters complaining of the lack of power before.

“If common sense prevailed, a planned power outage at a less busy time would make sense.

“Being a property manager for holiday rental homes, it’s infuriating.”

Tarawera Ratepayers’ Association chairwoman Libby Fletcher said planned power outages did not happen in the area “very often”.

“A couple of years ago they were putting new power lines in and we did have a lot of power outages then. But that has stopped,” Fletcher said.

“We’re always given plenty of warning that these things are going to happen. So if people are renting out houses they have the opportunity to let their renters know that the power is going out.”

Fletcher said as the chairwoman of the ratepayers’ association she could receive calls when people “are dissatisfied”.

“I haven’t gotten any calls about the power outages from association members.”

Unison general manager of commercial Jason Larkin said the April 13 scheduled outage was part of Unison’s ongoing asset maintenance programme.

“De-energising this section of the network will allow our crews to safely complete this significant job which requires the replacement of several poles, cross-arms and lines.”

Larkin said there was never a good time to schedule a power outage and apologised for any inconvenience the necessary work would cause.

“Unison works closely with retailers to ensure consumers are informed of the scheduled work ahead of time and can prepare to be without power or make alternative arrangements.”

Larkin advised customers to visit Unison’s website for advice on how to plan for a future outage.

Previous planned outages took place on March 3 and August 23, 2022.