Since last November, the Dunedin City Council-owned lines company has replaced, repaired or reassessed 2260 poles out of the 2910 identified as being the most dangerous in the power network.
When combined with its scheduled maintenance programme, Aurora had replaced, repaired or reassessed more than 3580 poles, of which 2485 had been replaced.
Since the programme started, another 500 ``condition 0'' poles had been found and would be repaired or replaced as part of scheduled maintenance.
The $30million fast-track pole programme is part of the company's large-scale asset renewal programme.
Aurora expects to finish the programme by the end of the year.
Former Delta employee and whistleblower Richard Healey said yesterday in the rush to show the public it was fixing the issue, Aurora had instead made it worse.
Mr Healey was particularly concerned with the use of pole-nailing and the assessment system used to determine the condition of poles.
Pole-nailing is where a steel nail is inserted down the side of a power pole and strapped to it to strengthen and safeguard the pole.
Mr Healey said if ground conditions were not tested before pole-nailing, the installation of a steel nail could weaken the pole's foundations and the ground around it. This could put other poles at risk of falling, risking the safety of linemen and the public.
``Members of the public look at this large steel pin sticking into the ground and think that looks safe but in reality it's made the situation more dangerous.''
The method was much quicker and cheaper than a full pole replacement, he said.
Information passed on from a staff member at Aurora showed more than 500 additional dangerous poles had been identified, he said.
Mr Healey did, however, praise the replacement of 2485 poles in one year, which meant both the network and public safety had been improved.
Aurora chairman Steve Thompson said the public could be confident in the integrity of the methods being used for pole testing and identification.
Both had been reviewed and approved by independent engineering experts and were verified as being robust, consistent and meeting the required regulatory standard.
``Understandably, the board of Aurora Energy prefers the advice of qualified and experienced industry experts and the use of well-established pole testing methods over the opinion of a single individual.''
Aurora would continue to inspect and renew poles as needed, once the fast track programme had finished.
``We expect pole renewals will continue at a higher rate of up to 2000 a year,'' Mr Thompson said.
A Worksafe spokeswoman said the work health and safety regulator was satisfied with Aurora's approach to improving the network and the progress it had made to date.
WorkSafe continued to engage with Aurora on the performance of its pole replacement programme and the condition of the network generally.
Aurora provided monthly reports on the pole replacement programme.
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It is very important that the public are made aware of the dangers associated with pole failure. Thank to the ODT for doing this since there are now 500 more poles in dangerous condition out there. If a pole falls on you that's death as Mr Healey's workmate found out, and if it falls on your car or other property it's pretty devastating too. Please keep telling the public how the pole restoration is going ODT.