UPDATED: Auckland blackout, day 3: Vector warns of more outages

UPDATED 3PM: In its latest update, Vector says electricity has been restored to all customers, but "pockets" in Orakei, St Heliers and Remuera may lose electricity this afternoon through to this evening. 

Vector spokeswoman Sandy Hodge says there are two more cables to bring into service later today. 

"While these cables are being brought back, customers are asked to conserve energy. Vector has also sought to lower the load on the affected part of the network by controlling hot waters. This will continue through into the evening," she says. 

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Vector reconfigures 

UPDATE / Tues Oct 7, 11am: Vector has taken power away from a further 200 customers as it works to bring repaired cables back into service. 

While the power company said it had restored power to but 324 customers overnight, it now says a further 200 customers in Remuera and Mt Wellington were taken off the network. 

"The Remuera cable has been the most difficult to repair because of cable complexity within the Transpower yard and will potentially be the last to be restored," Vector says in a statement. 

"We now expect to have the remaining cables repaired and reinstated throughout the day and into the evening, allowing us to reconfigure the network as those cables come in to ensure all customers are returned to service with full load."

Meanwhile, Vector chairman Michael Staissny has rebuffed suggestions governance in the electricity sector is a cause for concern. 

An inquiry into the failure has been announced by Prime Minister John Key. 

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All but 324 customers restored; Shearer says Transpower, not customers, should pay

UPDATE / Tues Oct 7, 6.15am: Vector says all but 324 homes and businesses have been restored overnight.

"The 324 customers are in pockets over the network – on the periphery of where we have back fed," spokeswoman Sandy Hodge tells NBR.

"Crews worked in very challenging weather conditions with hail, rain and wind hampering their efforts," Ms Hodge says.

The main St Johns feeder was restored allowing most of the customers in affected areas to have power this morning.

"This has allowed us to spread the load over more of the network, but as the peak load comes up this morning, we may have to drop some customers off. They will be restored once the peak has passed. Please conserve energy if you are in the affected areas as it will allow more customers to remain on."

Work on restoring the remaining-fire damaged cables will continue today.

At its peak, the outage caused by the Penrose substation fire around 2am Sunday morning left 85,000 homes and businesses without power.

Power bills could rise
It was Auckland's fifth major power outage since 1998. 

Yesterday, Prime Minister John Key said if the city wanted a "gold-plated" network with redundancy, upgrades could mean higher electricity bills for consumers.

Shared asset — but who was to blame?
The Penrose substation is a site shared by the local network owner Vector and the national grid operator Transpower.

At this stage, it's not clear where responsibility for the fire lies, although Vector has confirmed its assets were damaged rather than Transpower's.

The cause of the fire is unknown. Both companies say their first priority has been to restore power. Investigations will now begin.

Use Transpower dividend cash to fund network upgrade - Shearer
Labour energy spokesman David Shearer said this morning that Mr Key was wrong to suggest consumers would have to pay for a network upgrade.

“In the last year, [Crown-owned] Transpower, which shares that substation with Vector, gave $150 million in revenue to the government in dividends," Mr Shearer said this morning.

"Now maybe the government should be using some of that money rather than asking consumers – who are already being hit by high power prices  – to secure supply."

Former Vector chairman on cause
While Vector says the cause of the Penrose fire is unknown, and has yet to begin its investigation, Wayne Brown — a former chairman of both Vector and Transpower — says a sprinkler system should have been operating in the substation's switchyard.

He has also told the Herald there was a lack of engineers on the two companies' boards, saying the deficiency could limit understanding about the practicalities and dangers of the network.

Shares steady
Vector shares [NZX:VCT] have dipped only 0.38% yesterday, from Friday's close of $2.65 to $2.62. The prospect of possible compo payouts to affected businesses has been balanced by the PM softening up the public for price rises.

Vector 12-month price history (NZX.com)

UPDATE / Monday 5.40pm: Vector says cable repair and restoration times have been delayed two hours due to operational requirements by Transpower. 

Vector crews now hope to re liven St Johns at 10pm, Sylvia Park at 1am, Carbine Road at 3am, Mt Wellington at 4am and Remuera at around 7am.

Zone of expected overnight power outages in Auckland vs Bruce Springsteen in Dancing In The Dark video. Coincidence? pic.twitter.com/KrvP3O8p7k

— Bruce Buckman (@BruceBuckman) October 5, 2014

UPDATE / Monday 12PM: Vector says the best estimate is that Meadowbank, St Johns and Orakei will have services restored by 8pm. 

"The Sylvia Park cable should be back in operation by 11pm, Carbine Road 1am, Mt Wellington by 2am and the remainder of Remuera by 5am tomorrow."

"In the meantime, customers that have been restored in the affected areas are asked to conserve power as much as possible so we can backfeed more areas."

A police officer on traffic direction duty in Greenlane (@ChrisChang_nz)

UPDATE / Monday Oct 6, 7.30am: Vector says it restored all of St Heliers, all residential customers in Mt Wellington and half of Remuera over night

"This has been done by spreading the load over the network and some of these customers may come off during peak load this morning. However, they will have power back once the peak has passed. This has meant hot water cylinders and freezers could operate overnight," spokeswoman Sandy Hodge says.

The total number of customers blacked out is 18,000, down from 39,600 last night and a peak of 85,000 homes and businesses yesterday morning.

Customers are asked to be as frugal as possible with their energy use in these areas if they have been restored so we can back feed more areas.

Crews continued to work on the damaged cables over night and fresh crews are due onsite shortly to continue with this work, Ms Hodge says.

Another 48 hours
Vector CEO Simon Mackenzie said this morning that some affected customers will be without power for up to 48 hours.

Mr Mackenzie said that the initial outage was so widespread because power was switched off in areas that ultimately proved to be unaffected as the lines company protected fire fighter safety, and sought to assess the degree of damage.

Heavy congestion
Meanwhile, Auckland Transport and Police are bracing for possible commuter chaos. As of late last night, power was still out at 60 sets of traffic lights. Auckland Civil Defence, which was activated yesterday, has attached generators to traffic lights at most intersections but is warning drivers to expect congestion.

Auckland Transport asked people to leave for work as soon as possible. Earlier indications were that commuters were doing the exact opposite, with many leaving earlier than usual. Around 7.30am, the travel time from Manukau to the CBD was 90 minutes (also in part due to a crash on the Southern Motorway).

Traffic should be lighter than usual with the second week of the school holidays, but Metservice has a severe weather warning in place. Gales are expected that may become severe.

Auckland Hospital has filled with patients who have lost power for home oxygen and dialysis.

There is also a degree of disruption to mobile phone service, wih almost 90 Vodafone, Spark and 2degrees cell sites without power.

Transpower, which is responsible for the Penrose substation which caught fire Sunday morning, sparking the outage, still has no idea what caused the incident. The electricity network operator says its primary focus is on restoring power at this point.

Blackout area can be tracked through Vector.co.nz/outages and the lines companies' iPhone and Android apps, which can be downloaded here.

40,000 homes, businesses face night without power

UPDATE / Sunday Oct 5, 6.30pm: Vector spokeswoman Sandy Hodge says crews have managed to restore all affected customers in Onehunga, Epsom, Penrose, Te Papa, Rockfield, Newmarket, Westfield and Glenn Innes.

This brings the total number of customers out down to 39,600 from the 85,000 out at the height of the substation fire this morning.

Suburbs still affected by the damaged cables are Sylvia Park, Remuera, Mt Wellington, St Johns, Orakei and St Heliers. These customers are expected to be without power overnight. 

"However crews may be able to back feed across the boundaries as much as possible," Ms Hodge says.

"Customers are asked to be as frugal as possible with their energy use in these areas if they have been restored so we can back feed more areas. Crews will continue working overnight and throughout tomorrow in order to get customers restored as soon as possible. Medically dependent customers or vulnerable customers in these areas should make alternative arrangements."

Traffic lights are still out at 60 intersections, Auckland Transport says. 

Ms Hodge says Vector will issue no further updates this evening.

Blackout area can be tracked through Vector.co.nz/outages and the lines companies' iPhone and Android apps, which can be downloaded here.

Latest outage map: @Vectorltd has advised these areas will have no power overnight. Restoration anticipated tomorrow pic.twitter.com/N1i4z2E45i

— Auckland CDEM (@AucklandCDEM) October 5, 2014

PM calls outage a "freak occurrence" not structural vulnerability

UPDATE / 4.30pm: Lines company Vector says the Auckland suburbs of Remuera, Newmarket, Ellerslie, Mt Wellington, Mission Bay, Greenlane, Orakei, Meadowbank, Kohimarama, Sylvia Park, St Heliers, Glendowie, Otahuhu, Onehunga, St Johns, Glen Innes, and Rockfield are still without electricity following a major fire at the Penrose substation overnight.

All up, 53,100 customers remain without power.

Power has been restored to Onehunga, Epsom and Mt Eden.

By late afternoon, Vector expects power to be restored to  Newmarket, Glen Innes and Rockfield.

But other areas face a 24 to 48-hour wait.

Greenlane Hospital is running on generators.

With traffic lights out in affected areas, Auckland Transport is bracing for problems Monday morning. Police will be on duty at major intersections.

Prime Minister John Key has called for neighbours to lend a helping hand in suburbs still without power.

At the outage's height, around 85,000 homes and businesses were affected.

Although it's still not clear what caused the fire, Mr Key called the substation incident a "freak occurrence" rather than a structural vulnerability with Auckland's power system.

"We'll have to have a proper assessment of things over time. There's been a huge upgrade in Transpower's grid and the investment going into the wider Auckland infrastructure. This is literally a freak fire, a very significant fire and so it's had quite a big impact."

Mr Key said there was likely to be some economic impact from the outage.

"It's a trading day for many businesses in Newmarket and the likes and they can't open. What happens as a result of this I don't know, whether ultimately Vector or others have insurance or what sort of financial or other repercussions there are is really for the provider," the PM said.

85,000 Auckland homes without power

UPDATE / 12.45pm: Vector spokeswoman Sandy Hodges says a Penrose substation fire has been brought under control.

"However, the initial investigation has revealed substantial damage to a number of  cables feeding some eastern, central and southern suburbs. Vector mobilised extra resources when news came through of the fire early this morning and will get to work on repairing these damaged cables now. It’s expected that the crews will work through the night to effect these repairs, but this will take some time.

"Every cable and every piece of switchgear must be thoroughly checked before being re-livened, so an initial restore to some areas may still take some time.

"The areas that we estimate could be restored this afternoon are; Newmarket, Glen Innes, Rockfield, Onehunga and parts of Epsom.

"Our best estimate at this early stage is that the suburbs that are likely to be out for up to 24-48 hours are; St Johns, Remuera, Sylvia Park and Mt Wellington. If all goes to plan, there may be some restoration in the peripheral areas of these suburbs that could take place earlier, if the crews can back feed, although that is difficult to establish at this early stage."

Multiple traffic lights are out in affected areas.

the case of the fire is unknown.

EARLIER: Fires at Transpower's Penrose transmission substation has knocked out power to multiple Auckland suburbs, leaving around 85,000 homes without electricity.

The fires  happened around 2am. Locals report hearing explosions.

As of early this morning, the Fire Service had extinguished an above-ground fire at the substation, but was still fighting an underground cable fire.

Lines company Vector says the fire has to be put out before it can assess damage and engineer a workaround. It has no timeframe for restoring power to affected homes.

Areas hit by the blackout include Remuera, Epsom, Ellerslie, Mt Eden and Mt Wellington, and homes as far to the east as Glendowie and as far south as Otahuhu. 

Transpower said in a statement, "About 2.10am a number of Transpower's assets at its Penrose substation were electrically tripped, causing an outage to consumers in and around Penrose, Mt Wellington and Ellerslie. We understand a fire in a Vector cable trench may be implicated in the initial trippings in our network — a fire which is now being attended to."

Vector is updating customers through its website, its iPhone and Android app and its Twitter account.