The reason a power pole fell in Alexandra last weekend is still not known, and Aurora Energy has not said whether the pole was on its replacement programme.
The pole, which fell about halfway towards the surface of Chicago St about 1.50pm on Saturday, did not have a red tag on it.
An Aurora spokesman last weekend said it could not comment on the cause of the collapse or whether the pole was red-tagged and/or part of the replacement programme.
The Otago Daily Times asked again yesterday if the pole was due to be replaced before it fell, or if any work had been done on the pole just before it fell, or recently.
An Aurora Energy spokesperson replied saying, ''Aurora Energy takes any pole failure seriously and will be carrying out an investigation into what happened and why. The maintenance history of the pole will form part of the investigation.''
The fallen pole caused power cuts to houses in parts of Alexandra for several hours on Saturday and again on Sunday, when the damaged pole was replaced with a new concrete one.
The pole, which had a large vertical split of about 2m, appeared to have snapped off at ground level. It had been temporarily restrained for about 24 hours by Delta trucks and by a large concrete block and straps, which had 250kg written on them.
The Otago Daily Times asked Aurora if it was usual practice to leave a pole temporarily supported in such a way for up to 24 hours, but no response was received.
Ewan Tutty, who lives in the house beside the pole, was not at home when the pole fell but was not concerned about it.
''We used the gas barbecue for lunch and the beer was cold in the fridge,'' Mr Tutty said.
He said would continue to park his car by the power pole.
But Mr Tutty's daughter, Bridie (15), was at home when it happened.
''I was sitting down in the lounge and it just fell down,'' Bridie said.
Miss Tutty said the power did not go off immediately, but Delta turned it off for about 3 or 4 hours when personnel arrived.
The pole did not damage surrounding houses.
-Additionally reported by Tom Kitchin
