Orion snowstorm response
5.00pm, Monday 15 August 2011

Less than 100 customers were without power in Christchurch and central Canterbury as at 5.00pm, however Orion expects to restore power to most of these customers by 6.00pm.

Rural areas still without power include parts of Leeston and Tai Tapu, and in Christchurch city isolated snow-related power outages are affecting a few small pockets of customers. Orion expects to restore power by 7pm to all of these customers except about 10 in Tai Tapu where access is difficult.

Orion is monitoring weather forecasts indicating the possibility of more snow in the coming days, and has crews on standby ready to respond to any further power issues overnight across its network area.

"Our crews will do what they can tonight to restore power, however it may not be possible to get power back on to everyone - mostly due to access issues. Further outages are possible overnight if the weather doesn't improve," says Orion General Manager Commercial Rob Jamieson.

If your power is not yet on please contact Orion on 0800 363 9898, but please be prepared for a night without power - contact friends or family for help where necessary, or call the Government Helpline on 0800 779 997 for assistance and advice.

The Orion website gives details of current power outages, including areas affected and estimates for power restoration - see www.oriongroup.co.nz/outages.aspx. Orion also uses Twitter to send updates about the power supply situation in Christchurch and central Canterbury - see www.twitter.com/OrionNZ
Unless the situation changes significantly, Orion's next update will be at 8am tomorrow morning.

ENDS

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