Our electricity network is one of the most reliable in New Zealand, but the lights still go out from time to time.
Putting together a power outage kit can make being without electricity a little easier to manage.
This might be part of a more general ‘grab bag’ and should include things like:
During a prolonged outage, make sure you eat any perishable foods first.
Without power, food will generally keep refrigerated for 2-4 hours and will stay frozen for up to 24 hours, as long as you keep the fridge and freezer door shut. If anything doesn’t smell right, throw it away.
Business owners may want to consider insulated freezer blankets, or an alternative location to store perishable food.
We recommend having a business continuity plan.
All organisations are different, but some of the things you might want to consider are:
- being able to process EFTPOS transactions manually
- business interruption insurance
- an alternative location, commonly known as a disaster recovery site
- getting a uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system and/or generator (more info on this here).
Visit business.govt.nz (external site) for more.
During an outage
Find out what to do if the power's out.
⚠️ If you’re medically dependent, make sure you have an emergency response plan in place and let your electricity retailer know. If a power outage occurs, contact your health practitioner for help if you need it. Call 111 in an emergency.
Make sure you also have a backup plan for any pets relying on power, like tropical fish. MPI provides a checklist for protecting pets in emergencies.
In an emergency
please contact our 24 hour
Electricity Emergency Line
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