Counties Energy’s Holiday Period Storm Response
As the calendar turned to 2026, Counties Energy crews were already deep into a major restoration effort to ensure the region began the New Year with power. Between 29 December and 1 January, a prolonged and severe weather system swept through the region, causing widespread disruption across the network.
Despite the challenging conditions, the response from both the community and Counties Energy teams was appreciated. Residents adapted holiday plans with patience and understanding, allowing crews to focus fully on restoring supply. Field teams worked tirelessly in difficult conditions, repairing more than 400 outages — many involving fallen trees, broken poles and downed lines — to restore power to over 3200 customers.
Restoration progressed quickly so that by 1 January, the vast majority of customers had their power restored.
Counties Energy Chief Customer and Operations Officer Dale Carline thanked customers for their support during the event.
“Our crews worked through extremely tough conditions, and the patience and kindness shown by the community made a real difference,” he says. “We’re very grateful to our customers for looking out for one another while we focused on getting the lights back on during what was a difficult time for many with disruption to their plans with whānau and friends.”
“I would like to also thank our crews and support teams who gave up their holiday plans to ensure our community’s power was restored as quickly and safely as possible.”
During severe weather events, Counties Energy follows a structured restoration process to manage the network safely and efficiently. Crews first focus on isolating damaged or downed lines and securing electrical equipment. Restoration then prioritises essential services and outages affecting the largest number of customers, before progressing to smaller groups and individual properties.
Customers can stay informed through the Counties Energy Outage Hub at app.countiesenergy.co.nz. Medically dependent customers are reminded to ensure their emergency plans are in place and ready to be activated if required.
Vegetation remains a major contributor to network outages, with trees responsible for approximately 70 percent of storm-related faults. This highlights the importance of proactive tree maintenance. For safety reasons, any work within four metres of power lines must only be carried out by qualified professionals. More information on tree safety and regulations is available at www.countiesenergy.co.nz/trees
Safety is always the top priority. The public is reminded to treat all power lines and electrical equipment as live and dangerous at all times. If you see a damaged or downed line, or damaged electrical equipment, stay well clear and do not touch anything nearby. Report hazards immediately to 0800 100 202 or, in an emergency, call 111. Only authorised Counties Energy personnel are permitted to work on Counties Energy assets, as unauthorised interference is dangerous and strictly prohibited.
For damage to privately owned service lines, repairs must be arranged by the property owner through an approved electrical service provider. Further information is available at: https://countiesenergy.co.nz/connections/service-providers/