A power cut that hit Lake Hawea and Makarora a month ago was the 13th unplanned outage over the past year, sparking outrage amongst residents who were demanding better communication from the power supplier.
Longview resident Jessie Byrne took action by approaching the power supplier and questioning why more than 2000 customers affected by the outage had been left without reimbursement.
Aurora responded saying the removal of the compensation scheme had been the result of public consultation held in 2023 in which the company claimed the majority of respondents supported the decision.
"To me it just struck me as very odd," Ms Byrne said. "I thought, why would any consumer vote in favour of something that is ultimately against their benefit?"
She then submitted a formal request for information with Aurora to find out exactly how many people responded to the consultation and supported removing the scheme.
After more than two weeks of waiting, Aurora came back saying 14 people had responded and 11 had voted in favour of the removal.
Ms Byrne felt this was ineffective in capturing the preferences of a growing region.
"It’s come off as very shady to me that in a time where Hāwea and Wānaka and the surrounding regions are growing at an unprecedented rate, a utilities company has removed a measure of accountability," she said.
Aurora Energy spokesperson Mark Pratt said the consultation process was promoted well on media channels and engagement with the Commerce Commission.
The consultation landing page saw 1400 visits with only 14 submitting a respond, something that Mr Pratt said was beyond the company’s control.
"We would like to reassure people that even though the number of submitters was low, the results supported what had already been a thorough process that led to the recommended changes."
The decision to remove the credit for restoring power after an unplanned outage was justified by the company who claimed the policy was poorly targeted.
Mr Pratt said those living in rural communities may not have qualified for the charter credit as it excluded outages caused by third parties such as animal interference, vegetation, vehicles or machinery, major weather events, and Transpower outages.
As a resident of the Longview subdivision, Ms Bryne said residents in the newly developed neighbourhood had experienced more power issues than the rest of Lake Hawea.
"Longview seems to be a bit of the crux of the community at the moment, just because the expansion is so huge," she said.
Mr Pratt said Longview had the same number of unplanned outages as Lake Hawea, however it was prone to more planned outages as the network is expanded for new connections.
Aurora Energy chief executive Richard Fletcher met privately with Hawea Community Association chairwoman Cherilyn Walthew last week to discuss improving compensation as well as planning for better infrastructure as the area continues to grow.
The company had also said they plan to hold a public meeting for all locals to express their concerns in late September or early October.
