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Whakatāne, Bay of Plenty

Electricians in WhakatāneEastern Bay floods, quakes and the lines company to call.

Need an electrician in Whakatāne? Tell us the job and we'll match it with one licence-checked Whakatāne electrician who does that kind of work. Horizon Networks runs the local lines, and its 24 hour line for urgent faults is 0800 HORIZON (0800 467 496).

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View over Whakatāne township and the Whakatāne River mouth from the lookout above the town.
Photo: Chris Thompson, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, cropped

Eastern Bay of Plenty basics

Horizon Networks

Horizon's 2018 description of its network is over 2,500 km of high voltage line and 10 substations across the Whakatāne, Ōpōtiki and Kawerau districts. Urgent faults go to 0800 HORIZON (0800 467 496), and its Outages app shows planned and unplanned outages.

Small outages start with your retailer

Horizon says it relies on retailers to tell it about minor outages, so for a power cut at your place, call your retailer. Anything life-threatening is a 111 call.

Rivers that break their banks

Heavy rain from 16 to 18 July 2004 forced thousands across the Bay of Plenty to evacuate. On 6 April 2017 the Rangitāiki River breached a stopbank next to Edgecumbe, around 2,000 people were evacuated and more than 300 homes were damaged.

The 1987 quake

The magnitude 6.5 Edgecumbe earthquake struck at 1.42 pm on 2 March 1987. A foreshock seven minutes earlier had already cut the power, and the worst damage was in Edgecumbe, Te Teko, Kawerau, Matatā and Thornton.

What floods leave behind

Water and mud get into power points, light fittings, switchboards, underfloor wiring and hot water cylinders. Some of it dries out and looks fine, then fails later. That's why anything that has been under water stays off until a licensed electrician has tested it, and why a written report is worth having for your insurer.

If you're still in a house that took water in 2017 and nobody checked the wiring, it's worth doing now. Ask for a written result you can keep with your house papers.

Other work that comes up around Whakatāne

Service lines. Horizon explains that whoever owns a service line is responsible for maintaining it, unless they've agreed otherwise with someone else. On a rural block, that line can run a long way. Leave repairs to an electrician, and keep trees clear: the tree owner, usually the landowner, is generally responsible once Horizon has paid for a qualifying first cut or trim.

Solar and vehicle-to-grid. To connect solar, wind or vehicle-to-grid equipment, you apply to Horizon for a distributed generation connection, in either the 10 kW or less or the over 10 kW category. An application fee applies.

A growing town. Whakatāne had 16,419 people in 6,114 dwellings at the 2023 Census, up 14.1% since 2013. New homes, extensions and minor dwellings all need new circuits, and WorkSafe says new lighting and power point circuits from the switchboard need RCD protection.

A line down near your place

Horizon says never approach or try to clear a downed line, stay at least 10 metres away and call 111. Don't touch anything that's touching the line, including a tree or a branch.

Our take for Whakatāne

If you're in a flood-prone part of town, we'd ask an electrician where your board and power points sit compared with past flood levels, and whether anything should be moved higher at the next renovation. After any flood, we'd have the wiring tested before switching back on, however dry it looks.

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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Questions

Straight answers.

How do I report a power cut in Whakatāne?

Call your electricity retailer. Horizon Networks relies on retailers to pass on minor outages. For something urgent and dangerous, like a damaged line, use 0800 HORIZON or call 111.

Can I check if there's a planned outage?

Yes. Horizon's Outages app, on Google Play and the Apple App Store, shows the progress of planned and unplanned outages on its network.

What should a Whakatāne landlord know?

At the 2023 Census, 30.09% of Whakatāne District households didn't own their home or hold it in a family trust. Every rental must meet the healthy homes standards and have working smoke alarms, and landlords can't do the electrical work themselves.

Ready for a sparky in Whakatāne?

Pop in your postcode and answer a few quick questions. We find the licensed local specialist for the job.

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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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