The cause of the outage is unclear, but crews are on their way to the Kaikohe substation. Photo: Supplied/Top Energy
Businesses have been forced to close early after a major power cut in the Far North, but one hotel says business is booming.
Crews are working to restore power after a tree fell onto a high-voltage power line on Friday afternoon, lines company Top Energy said.
At its peak more than 23,000 homes and businesses across the district were without power.
Kerikeri's Homestead Tavern closed shortly after 5pm.
But at Russell's Duke of Marlborough, however, co-owner Riki Kinnaird said business was booming.
The hotel has a large generator that once supplied backup power to Eden Park.
The bar was full of people enjoying a drink in the afternoon sun and charging their phones at one of the few places in town with power.
It is not clear, however, why systems designed to limit the extent of power outages did not work as intended.
The company said power would be restored progressively with most customers expected to back on by early evening.
The last homes to have their power restored will be those on the 33-kilovolt line to Mount Pokaka, which supplies parts of Kerikeri, Waipapa, Kaeo and Whangaroa.
Power went out at 3.50pm for residents as far north as the Hokianga Harbour in the west and Whangaroa in the east.
The Bay of Islands, Kaikohe and South Hokianga were also all without power.
Many restaurants, bars and takeaways have closed on what would normally be the busiest night of the week.
Kerikeri's Homestead Tavern stayed open initially but closed shortly after 5pm.
At Russell's Duke of Marlborough, however, co-owner Riki Kinnaird said business was booming.
The hotel had a large generator, that once supplied backup power to Eden Park, so the bar was full of people enjoying a drink in the afternoon sun and charging their phones at one of the few places in town with power.
The Whangārei and Kaipara districts are not affected.
Northland Civil Defence Commitee chair Kelly Stratford said one of the main concerns if the power cut continued for an extended period would be the Far North's water and wastewater treatment plants.
The council had mobile generators it could deploy if necessary to keep those plants functioning.
However, she did not expect any major issues if power was restored by 7pm as Top Energy expected.
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