Residents on part of Otago Peninsula are being warned of power outages and traffic delays when a major lines network upgrade begins later this month.
Aurora Energy Ltd is to spend $220,000 upgrading its electricity lines network to Otakou, on Otago Peninsula, from March 16-26.
The network's voltage will be upgraded from 6600 volts to 11,000 volts, with 13 new distribution transformers installed and one power pole replaced, Aurora chief executive Grady Cameron said.
The result would be a more efficient and reliable power supply to the area, but only after residents endured two power outages and traffic delays over a two-week period, he confirmed.
The first stage of work, from March 16-25, would existing transformers mounted on power poles replaced with new ones capable of handling 11kV.
Electricity would be cut to surrounding properties while the work was carried out. That would mean one four-hour outage for properties in the vicinity of each transformer,
affecting 115 consumers once each.
Customers would be notified of the exact date for their outage by their electricity retailer.
Traffic management would be in place at five sites along Harington Point Rd during the work and in some cases traffic would be reduced to a single lane, with some disruption expected, Mr Cameron said.
The rolling outages would be followed by one full-day outage affecting 230 consumers on March 26, when the network's supply was switched from 6.6kV to 11kV, he said.
Mr Cameron said the work was part of Aurora's plan to invest $236 million in its network, across Dunedin and Central Otago, over the next decade.
The work would be carried out by Delta staff, with 15 line workers and technicians involved in the Otakou project.
