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Power cuts & electricity outages

The first, and most important, thing you should do during a power outage is to stay safe.

A power cut could be due to a widespread outage, or a localised fault at your place.

  • If power lines are down or you see other dangers, keep well clear. Treat all electrical lines and wires as if they are live and deadly
  • Unplug potentially dangerous equipment like heaters
  • Tell your network company immediately. If you can’t reach them, call us at any time on 0800 496 496

If you ever feel your health is at risk due to a power outage call emergency services on 111 or get to a hospital.

Planned outages

Sometimes, a power outage will be planned in order to carry out maintenance work. To minimise any inconvenience to you and give you as much time as possible to make alternative plans, we'll give you at least four business days' notice before any planned power outage.  

If the outage is required more urgently, we’ll give you as much notice as possible.

If you live or work in the Powerco network* and you also have an import/export meter (i.e. you export power back to the grid), it’s important that you turn off your generation equipment, one hour before the planned outage. You’ll need to keep it switched off until the power has been put back on – this is usually one hour after the end time which you can find on your planned outage notification. If you are unsure how to turn off your generation equipment please contact your installer.

If you have an import/export meter in another part of the country, please contact your local network company below to find out if there is anything you need to do.

*The Powerco network is the local network company in Coromandel, Manawatu, South Waikato, Taranaki, Thames, Taranaki ,Tauranga, Wairarapa and Wanganui.

You may also lose power due to an overloaded circuit or faulty appliance.

You can reset the power by checking your switchboard and flicking any switches in the ‘off’ to the ‘on’ position. If that doesn’t reset the power (and you can’t easily identify the cause of the problem) then call us to register a fault. 

Never attempt to pull fuses or switches from your meter board – this must only be done by an experienced electrician. Because so many things can cause a power cut, keep a well-stocked emergency kit.

Medical dependency

If someone in your household requires the use of mains electricity for critical medical support (uses an approved life support machine), and any disconnection poses a threat to their health or wellbeing, it’s important you let us know by completing and returning a medical dependency form. 

You and your doctor or health provider need to complete the form below and return it to us

Download it here (PDF), or ask us to post a copy to you.

Once completed, send it back to us

Not a Meridian customer?

If you’re interested in becoming a Meridian customer, you can use our price estimator tool to get an idea of how much you’ll pay and the rates for your address.

If you want to become a Meridian customer, you can fill out our join form. It'll take you less than 10 minutes.