Wellington has a proud history of lighting its streets. In 1889, it became the first city in the southern hemisphere to be lit by electricity.
Today, there are over 40,000 public streetlights across Wellington, Porirua, and the Hutt Valley. We supply the power, while the four city councils and New Zealand Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi) own and maintain them. Between us, we keep our streets and highways illuminated.
If there's a fault
As a general rule, if only one or two lights are out, it's often an isolated issue that can be fixed by the council (or Waka Kotahi along state highways). If three or more lights are affected, it's more likely to be a circuit fault and they'll ask us to check our electricity network.
Getting the lights back on isn't always a straightforward process. If there's a problem with the power, we might need to dig up buried cables in different places to pinpoint the fault. This requires a detailed planning process to keep everyone safe and minimise disruption.
Even what might be perceived as a simple bulb replacement isn't always a quick fix as the council might need traffic management to do this safely.
Report a streetlight outage
To report a streetlight outage, please let your local council know via one of the buttons below:
Wellington Lower Hutt Porirua Upper Hutt
For state highways, phone New Zealand Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi) on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49).
Note: Some streetlights along laneways and private roads are privately-owned. It's the owners' responsibility to look after these.
Council contact details
- Wellington City Council
04 499 4444
[email protected] -
Hutt City Council
04 570 6666
[email protected] -
Porirua City Council
04 237 5089
[email protected] -
Upper Hutt City Council
04 527 2169
[email protected]
In an emergency
please contact our 24 hour
Electricity Emergency Line
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