What to do during a power outage

If the lights go out unexpectedly at your place, you first need to work out whether it’s just your electricity supply that’s affected or whether the neighbours are without power too.  

If you’re still able to use the internet, check your lines company’s website – not your power company’s – to see if the outage was planned or not. Some will give detail about what’s caused an unplanned outage – for example, a car has hit a power pole. Or it might be a planned outage – for example, for routine maintenance of equipment. It will also usually tell you when the company expects to have your power connected again.  

If it’s just your house 

Power companies are meant to only disconnect customers for non-payment of their power bill if it’s a last resort. This would be after multiple attempts to contact you and help you find ways to pay, so you’d likely know if this was the case. 

For more information on your rights around disconnection if you can’t pay your power bill, check out this information on disconnections from Utilities Disputes. 

If you know how to, and it is safe to, you can check your house’s switchboard to see if any of the switches aren’t on. If there are burn marks, strange smells or a crackling sound, do not touch it.  

If you don’t know why just your house is without power, call your power company and let them know.  

If it’s more than just your house 

If the weather is wild or you’ve just had a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, it is likely some equipment has been damaged and caused the power cut. 

Sometimes though, a power cut can be due to other problems with the infrastructure needed to supply electricity. In this case, you may be eligible for compensation for any losses caused by the outage. This might be for things such as all the food in your freezer defrosting or an appliance being affected by a surge when the power came back on. 

If this happens, we think you should contact your power company and ask it for compensation, rather than claiming on your content insurance and having to pay an excess. Send your power company any photos you have of the damage and tell them the Consumer Guarantees Act says electricity supply must be of an acceptable quality.  

What to do during a power cut 

• Turn your appliances off at the wall to protect them from power surges when the power comes back on.  

• Keep the fridge and freezer doors shut to keep the food inside cold.  

• Avoid using candles for light, because of the fire risk.  

• If it’s cold, layer up with clothing and blankets. 

• Leave a couple of lights on so you know when the power comes back on.