If the weather takes a turn for the worse or something unforeseen stops the work from going ahead, we might need to cancel a planned outage at short notice and re-schedule it for a later date.

If this happens, we’ll let your electricity retailer know as soon as we can. If one of our service providers has advised you of the outage, they will contact you directly to let you know about the cancellation if they’re able to.

The alternative date is just a backup day. We'll only use it if the work can't go ahead on the main scheduled date.

Occasionally, our field crews might not know until the very last minute that they need to use the alternative date (for example, if the weather takes a sudden turn), but we'll always update our outages page as soon as we can.

Your electricity retailer will be able to discuss this with you. However, due to the amount of planning that goes into any maintenance work, we can’t normally re-schedule planned outages on request.

We also know that everyone’s circumstances are different, so it can be difficult to find a time that suits everyone. However, we’ll always try our best to schedule outages at times that cause the least overall inconvenience (for example, we’ll usually avoid planned outages on public holidays).

We generally avoid any scheduled maintenance at weekends because it can be just as disruptive for residents and businesses as it would be in the week. Sticking with weekdays also provides the following benefits:

Keeps lines charges down
If work was scheduled for the weekend, overtime costs could make electricity less affordable in Wellington.

Manages fatigue
By making sure that the crews we have available don’t work too many hours, it helps keep them safe in the field.

Maintains a positive work-life balance
Our people need time with their whānau, and for themselves.

Not every outage will affect the whole street, so it's possible that you won't be affected even though your neighbour is. There are a few reasons why someone might not receive a notification they should though, so here’s a few things to check:

• Is your address fully accurate on your electricity bill? This could affect our ability to identify you as part of a planned outage.
• Have you ever not received notification when there was a planned outage before? If this is the case, please let us or your electricity retailer know so we can check the information in our systems.
• Check your mailbox – there might be a letter from one of our service providers or from your electricity retailer if you're not set up for email notifications.

Not usually. However, there may be instances where we’re not able to turn your power back on for safety reasons if you’re not at home. If this happens, a card will be left advising you to either turn on your main switch or call us.

If we need to attend to get your power back on, we aim to be there within the hour.

Yes, but please read this important information first. If you’re using anything more than a portable generator (which must NOT be connected to the mains), please phone us on 0800 248 148. It’s crucial that you let us know, otherwise our crews may be at risk from ‘stray’ electricity being fed back into our network.

Most of the time, our crews complete the work within the expected timeframe. However, there may be rare instances where it takes a little longer than expected to get the power back on. If this is the case and we become aware that an outage is overrunning by more than a few minutes, we'll put a notification on our outages page to let people know what's happening.

If you remain without power, please contact your electricity retailer who can investigate on your behalf.