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South Island ski fields are worried patchy power supplies could put lives at risk and knee cap plans for a bumper school holiday run.
Coronet peak and thousands of nearby residents in Dalefield and Arrowtown lost power yesterday morning - its the third time in three weeks.
South Island operator NZ Ski is asking for a "please explain" from power company Aurora and its owner Dunedin City Council. NZ Ski chief executive Paul Anderson talks to Lisa Owen.
Aurora Energy declined an interview, but in a statement said:
"Aurora Energy have a major programme of investment underway in the Arrowtown area to provide enhanced security of electricity supply. We are investing $49 million of capital investment on the Queenstown Lakes network over the next five years, as part of Aurora Energy’s $563 million investment over five years to upgrade the electricity network in Otago. The work currently underway will improve electricity supply to Arrowtown, Dalefield and Coronet Peak, and in the process also increase the capacity for growth in this area.
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"In regard to the recent power cuts, one of the electricity lines that takes power from the grid exit point at Frankton (where Aurora Energy takes power from Transpower’s national grid to distribute it to our local network) has tripped three times recently: 22 June, 1 July and 6 July. This impacted the same 2324 customers in Dalefield and Arrowtown.
"On all occasions there was an unusual fault and tripping. From time to time we get intermittent faults on different parts of the network that can be difficult to resolve, and this is an example of this. We started investigating why this happened after the first fault, including foot patrols of the lines, and are looking into this as a matter of urgency. Yesterday field crews undertook a more detailed visual inspection of the line and these patrols are continuing today. We want to give customers reassurance we are being proactive to find and fix the issue and we are working with the team at NZski to keep them informed.
"Aurora Energy’s Chief Executive, Dr Richard Fletcher, has spoken with NZSki’s chief executive today, and we are in the process of setting up a meeting so we can share more details of the work we are doing to ensure a reliable electricity supply, as we appreciate that all tourism and hospitality businesses want their customers to have a positive experience while visiting the Queenstown area. We also want people who already live in the area to have electricity when they need it."