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Electricians in SouthlandOne faults line, long rural lines, and real winters.

Southland has two lines companies, both managed by PowerNet: Electricity Invercargill for most of the city and Bluff, and The Power Company for the rest of the region. So there's one 24/7 faults line for both, 0800 808 587. For the wiring in your house, tell us what's wrong and we'll put you in touch with one licence-checked local electrician who handles that kind of job.

Southland's two networks

Electricity Invercargill: the city and Bluff

The Invercargill network is almost entirely underground, while Bluff is mostly overhead because its rocky ground makes laying cable hard.

The Power Company: the rest of Southland

Gore, Winton, Te Anau, Riverton, Mataura and the farms in between, plus some outer parts of Invercargill. At 4.1 connections per km of line, it has the second lowest line density of New Zealand's 29 networks.

Before you ring 0800 808 587

PowerNet suggests checking whether the neighbours have lights on or the street lights are working. If they are, the problem may be on your property, like a blown fuse, and that's an electrician's job. It asks people not to report faults by email.

The October 2025 storm

PowerNet calls the 23 October 2025 storm the biggest event in its history. Gusts reached 164 km/h, more than 50,000 customers lost power, hundreds of poles and kilometres of line were destroyed across Southland and Clutha, and some customers were off for over two weeks. Gore recorded 124 km/h, its highest October gust since records began in 1987.

PowerNet says falling trees, particularly near lines, caused much of the damage. Treat any line on the ground as live, keep well back, and call 111 if anyone is in danger.

Cold winters and older supplies

Invercargill averages 41 days a year with a minimum below 0 °C, and The Power Company's peak comes on winter evenings. It also notes many older multi-phase home installations on its network. Before a heat pump or EV charger goes in, get the electrician to check what supply you actually have, and note PowerNet's point that not all EVs support three phase charging.

When the Mataura River peaked in February 2020, more than 2,400 people were evacuated in Gore. If water gets into the house, keep anything it touched switched off until a licensed electrician has been through it.

Buying a house? Check the records

WorkSafe's Electricity and Gas High-risk Database can be searched by address, free and without registering. Records of inspection for high-risk work, such as mains work, have had to go on it since 1 July 2013. The database isn't the certification itself, so still ask the seller for the certificates (certificates explained).

Our local pages cover Invercargill and Gore.

What we'd do in Southland

After last October, keep 0800 808 587 in your phone and have a long rural service line checked before winter. Buying? Search the address on WorkSafe's high-risk database before you sign, then ask for the paperwork behind anything it shows.

Want a specialist to sort it?

Tell us the job and your postcode. We match the licence-checked local electrician who does this kind of work, and they call you. No ring-around, and your number goes to them alone.

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Cities and towns in Southland

Electricians in InvercargillInvercargill's underground network, PowerNet's faults line, frosty winters and the heating jobs that follow.Electricians in GoreThe Power Company and PowerNet's faults line, the 2020 Mataura flood, frosty winters and older Gore wiring.

Questions

Straight answers.

Is my Invercargill address on Electricity Invercargill or The Power Company?

Most of the city and Bluff is Electricity Invercargill, and some outer parts of the city are on The Power Company. PowerNet manages both, so the faults line is the same either way.

Is solar common in Southland?

Not yet. In January 2026 about 1% of Electricity Invercargill connections and 1.79% on The Power Company had solar, against 2.80% nationally. PowerNet says you must apply and get final approval before connecting a system.

Related help

Helpful next

Electricians in InvercargillInvercargill's underground network, PowerNet's faults line, frosty winters and the heating jobs that follow.Electricians in GoreThe Power Company and PowerNet's faults line, the 2020 Mataura flood, frosty winters and older Gore wiring.Emergency electricians111, the lines company or an electrician? What to do first in an electrical emergency at home.EV charger installationWall charger or 3-pin cable, the Type B RCD, load checks and the certificates you should get for a home charger.Electrical certificates in New ZealandWhich certificate you get for which electrical job, when it's due, and what to do if it never arrives.Pre-purchase electrical inspectionsWhat to check before you buy: the electrical inspection, the vendor's certificates and the high-risk database.

Where this information comes from

Rules change, so check with the EWRB, WorkSafe or Tenancy Services if something matters to your job. How we write and check these pages.

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