Waikato Power Outages

New Zealand has no open live feed, so the quickest way to check Waikato is the official outage map from Powerco, Unison and WEL Networks or another operator below.

Six lines companies operate here: WEL Networks in Hamilton and the surrounding Waikato, Waipā Networks around Cambridge and Te Awamutu, Powerco around Thames, The Lines Company in the King Country, Unison around Taupō and Counties Energy in the far north-west. A storm on 28 and 29 May 2024 took WEL Networks' interrupted connections to a peak of about 30,500, based on Commerce Commission interruption records. For the year to March 2026, defective equipment was WEL's largest unplanned cause and third-party interference was Waipā's.

Population

532,100

Estimate, 2025

Lines companies

About 230,210 customers in this area

Weather warnings

MetService

Major past events

Cyclone Gabrielle

Who to contact in Waikato

The lines companies responsible for faults in Waikato. Search your address on an official outage map to confirm which one is yours.

New Zealand lines companies, outage map links and phone numbers
Lines company	Official outage map	Report by phone	Total customers
Powerco	Open ↗	0800 769 372	364,827
Unison	Open ↗	0800 286 476	121,183
WEL Networks	Open ↗	0800 800 935	102,646
Counties Energy	Open ↗	0800 100 202	49,940
Waipā Networks	Open ↗	0800 800 769	30,176
The Lines Company	Open ↗	0800 367 328	24,233

If you see a fallen power line, stay 10 metres away and call 111.

Waikato on the New Zealand map

Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

Weather warnings

MetService (Meteorological Service of New Zealand) lists no active warnings for this area.

Source: MetService (Meteorological Service of New Zealand)

Largest places in Waikato

Hamilton
Waikato
Waipā
Taupō
Matamata-Piako
Thames-Coromandel

Nearby regions

Reliability in Waikato

Average minutes without power and interruptions per customer, as published by the regulator or operator

Lines company	Time without power	Interruptions	Year
Powerco	7 hr 52 min	2.27	2026
Unison	3 hr 24 min	2.12	2026
WEL Networks	3 hr 6 min	2.09	2026
Counties Energy	5 hr 46 min	2.87	2026
Waipā Networks	6 hr 8 min	2.75	2026
The Lines Company	8 hr 35 min	3.63	2026

Definitions vary by source, for example in how major storms are treated, so these figures aren't a ranking. See each operator's page for the exact scope.

Major power outages affecting Waikato

Totals may cover every area affected, not only this one. Full accounts are on the New Zealand page.

Cyclone Gabrielle
13 February 2023
240,000 customers affected
Source: energia for Electricity Networks Aotearoa, Electricity Distribution Sector Cyclone Gabrielle Review

Waikato power outage FAQ

Who do I contact about a power outage in Waikato?

Powerco (0800 769 372), Unison (0800 286 476), WEL Networks (0800 800 935) and Counties Energy (0800 100 202) repair the local network in Waikato, which includes Hamilton, Waikato and Waipā.

What was the biggest power outage in Waikato?

Cyclone Gabrielle (13 February 2023) affected about 240,000 customers across the affected areas.

How reliable is the power supply in Waikato?

Powerco reported 7 hr 52 min of interruption per customer in 2026, and Unison reported 3 hr 24 min of interruption per customer in 2026, and WEL Networks reported 3 hr 6 min of interruption per customer in 2026. Scope differs between sources, so treat these as a guide and not a ranking.

Cite this page

You may reuse our derived data under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. Weather warnings are from MetService under CC BY 4.0. Reliability data is from the New Zealand Commerce Commission under CC BY 4.0.

PowerOutageTracker.com. "Waikato Power Outages." Accessed 4 November 2026. https://poweroutagetracker.com/world/new-zealand/waikato

Sources (4)