Upper Clutha Radio Telephone Users Association chairman Ian Brown said a lightning strike on the facility three weeks ago short-circuited the 5km long power cable that runs down the mountain, and a diesel generator had been used as a temporary replacement since then.
Mr Brown said the facility housed radio repeater units used by LandSAR, the coastguard, and local lake users for communication and emergency callouts.
Department of Conservation senior ranger Annette Grieve said the department also used the units as part of its VHF communication system.
The association called an emergency meeting on Sunday evening to discuss the short term options available and outlined its $300,000 power supply upgrade plan.
The plan would leave the facility solar-powered with a back-up generator for the winter during inversion conditions or high snowfall.
The upgrade would be conducted by Dunedin company CRS Communications Otago.
Company director Murray Paterson said the plan was to have power coming in through 24 solar panels into a 48-volt, 1000 amp hour battery, which would easily plug into what was already in place.
Mr Brown said repairing the power cable was off the table as it was ``deemed totally uneconomic'', and had regularly failed in the past few years due to environmental factors such as earthquakes and lightning strikes.
He said it cost over $10,000 each outage, due to the costs of helicopter access and professional time.
However, Mr Brown said the temporary generator was still costing $1000 a week to operate, as diesel had to be flown up by helicopter every nine days to refuel the generator.
The association had about $60,000 to put towards the upgrade cost, and had approached several local trusts and the Lion Foundation for support.
Queenstown Lakes District councillor Quentin Smith said council funding was not out of the question.
``I don't think the council would be opposed to considering funding a section that is proportional to the service they're accessing.''
``As far as I'm aware there hasn't been a case put forward to the council for funding but there is an opportunity for that as part of the Long-term Plan which is coming up in the next few months.''
Mr Brown said the association would meet again this week to formulate a plan.
