The Glendene woman has been without power for two weeks. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The Glendene woman has been without power for two weeks. Photo / Brett Phibbs
A West Auckland solo mother has gone two weeks without power and had no word about when it will be back on.
The woman, who does not want to be named, had flooding in a storage room at her split-level home in the suburb of Glendene from the January 27 and cyclone storms - the latter leading to a power cut on February 13.
After receiving a call from Vector on the day she lost power and being told it would be restored within two days, the woman said she has unsuccessfully been able to get an update from the power company.
Last Wednesday, she emailed Vector to say she had no hot water, no Wi-Fi, no ability to cook and lost all her frozen food.
“I have called nearly five times and no one seems to have an answer on when our power will be restored … come on Vector, and get your act together,” the email said.
In an email reply on Friday signed by “Vector General Inquiries”, the woman was told the job was down to be fixed.
The storms have left thousands of people without power. Photo / Hayden Woodward
“Unfortunately we are unable to provide any timeframes at this stage, but rest assured we will take care of this as soon as possible,” said the email, adding crews were working around the clock with more than 40,000 Aucklanders affected by the cyclone and endless emergencies around the city “including yours”, the reply said.
The woman, who works for an NGO, said her two teenage sons have gone to live with friends, leaving her and her 13-year-old daughter to get by without electricity.
Last week, she said someone had given her a generator, which allows her to run a couple of lamps, do some ironing, and briefly provide wifi, but she is still unable to cook and there’s no hot water.
“I’m living a minimal life … it is causing separation for my family. It’s just so frustrating and unprofessional for a large organisation like Vector unable to give me a timeline for having the power back on,” she said.
In a statement, Vector said it had been looking into the woman’s situation with crews on-site in Glendene today, but did not say when the power would be restored.
A spokesperson said crews have been working tirelessly to restore power caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and following the usual storm restoration process, which initially focuses on the main high voltage lines to restore the greatest number of people most quickly.
“We understand that customers who have been without power for prolonged periods are frustrated. In the last week, we have been able to boost our own crew numbers with teams from Palmerston North, Waipa Networks, Counties Energy, and AusGrid from Australia.”
“We now have the majority of crews focusing on repairing smaller lower voltage lines to individual streets and properties – which applies to customers like the woman in Glendene, the spokesperson said.
“The length of time people have been without power is being factored into how we prioritise this restoration process and deploy our crews. Unfortunately, Friday night’s heavy rain was a setback as it led to further damage to the main lines which diverted some crews.
“As of 9am today, we have 99 homes and businesses without power, including those in the Muriwai community (25) where we are unable to start work due to safety,” said the spokesperson.
Vector, the country’s largest distributor of electricity and gas, is a publicly listed company that is 75.1 per cent owned by a trust representing 350,000 consumers in the former areas of Auckland and Manukau city councils and part of Papakura.
