Northland's Chamber of Commerce has called for compensation for businesses ever since the 20 June power pylon collapse debacle. Photo: Transpower
National grid operator Transpower says it is exploring options for investing in the region following the collapse of a power pylon that led to a large-scale blackout.
Northland's Chamber of Commerce has called for compensation for businesses ever since the 20 June debacle, while Northland MP Grant McCallum said Transpower should pay out a "seven-figure sum" to benefit the region.
Yesterday's report by the Electricity Authority, highlighting failings at both Transpower and its contractor Omexom, has further fuelled calls for compensation.
Transpower's executive general manager for customer and external affairs, Raewyn Moss, told RNZ the company had held a number of meetings with mayors and business leaders to examine options for investing money for the benefit of Northland.
It would not be compensation but an investment, similar to what Transpower did in Hawke's Bay in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Transpower was holding another meeting today with Northland groups as it worked on the final shape of that investment, Moss said.
An announcement would be made once the details were finalised.
Estimates of the cost to Northland of the power outage range from $37.5m up to $80m.
McCallum originally suggested a year-long discount to all Northland power users, but he was advised that was too difficult to implement.
His latest suggestion was for a one-off payment to be distributed by a group such as Northland Inc.
Transpower has previously said it does not guarantee uninterrupted power, and is not legally obliged to offer compensation.
Domestic users can seek compensation via their power retailers but they have to be able to prove a financial loss, for example due to spoiled food.
Following the outage, which saw big industrial users shut down for up to four days, businesses were advised to contact their insurers for financial recompense.