Investigation under way into pylon collapse that cut power to Northland

Friday, 21 June 2024

An internal investigation is under way to get answers as to why a pylon collapsed, cutting power to Northland.

Energy Minister Simeon Brown said from Whangārei on Friday he would be considering whether to have an independent government review, after Transpower started an internal investigation.

Brown said he would also be asking electricity regulator the Electricity Authority to review the incident.

WorkSafe had been notified and was making initial inquiries to understand what had happened.

The collapse of the pylon on Thursday at Glorit - between Helensville and Wellsford - that led to power being cut to Nortland was 'completely unacceptable', Brown said.

'A pylon should not just fall down,' he said.

'That is something which should not happen in New Zealand outside of a major type of event.

'We need to get to the bottom of what happened, understand the facts. There needs to be accountability for that, and appropriate actions to follow those reviews.'

Brown had visited the site where the pylon collapsed on Friday morning.

Brown said Transpower expected a temporary structure that will carry a main electricity line to Northland after the pylon collapse Thursday, will be in Auckland by Friday evening.

All things going well, the temporary structure would be up by Saturday evening, and the power would be fully restored.

'The site (where the pylon collapsed), fortunately, is very close to the road, which makes it a lot easier to access, get equipment onto, which I think makes their job a lot easier,' Brown said.

The design for the temporary structure had been signed off at midnight. 'So they are working very quickly.'

Brown was asked about the possibility of sabotage being the cause of the pylon collapse that cut power to Northland.

'I think Transpower's made it clear, people were working on that particular pylon at the time,' Brown said.

'And so, there's an investigation under way in regards to what Transpower is doing.

'But look, we're looking at some of the wider issues, as well, and we want to make sure there's appropriate accountability.'

A Transpower official with Brown said the collapse of the tower was believed to be an isolated incident.

'There was work going on at site. A tower shouldn't have fallen down,' the official said.

Transpower's refrain from discussing the cause of the tower collapse.