Thousands face wait for power
15 June 2006
By KIM THOMAS



Thousands of Cantabrians could be without power until next week as electricity companies struggle to repair damage from this week's snow storm. Power companies estimate they will still be working to reconnect up to 2200 homes from North Canterbury to Ashburton next week. Yesterday an estimated 7000 houses or farms were without power.

Orion commercial general manager Rob Jamieson said it had been a long, difficult process restoring power to everyone. 'Crews are having to get through metre-deep snow before they can fix anything. That's been a real challenge. Then, as they go along to fix a main line they find lines into private properties also need fixing.'

Orion manages the electricity network that supplies power to homes and businesses between the Waimakariri to Rakaia Rivers. Jamieson said 8000 people in this area lost their power during Monday's snowstorm and yesterday about 2000 remained without electricity.

It was predicted that up to 200 people, mostly in more remote areas, would still be without power next week, Jamieson said. 'The vast majority of people will have power restored by the end of the weekend.'

Monday's weather bomb had badly damaged power lines because it consisted of 'wet snow' that clung to power lines and was compounded by a lack of wind to clear it, he said.

Electricity Ashburton's operations manager Ken Stirling said its network had suffered major damage in the snowstorms. Almost the entire system, or 15,000 homes, had been affected on Monday and there were still about 5000 houses without power. Stirling estimated there would still be 2000 homes without electricity by next Monday.

Stewart Ashton from line company Connetics said his crews had been working flat out to fix broken lines. 'We worked until 9pm on Monday and 7.30pm on Tuesday and it looks like guys will be working over the weekend as well. It feels like a bit of a never-ending job at the moment – we just fix one and then move on to another,' he said.