Wednesday, 9 April 2025

Duck cuts power to city’s CBD

    By Luisa Girao
    1. Southland

    Trevor Nelson, of T&L Motors, discovers filling his petrol canisters is impossible during...
    Trevor Nelson, of T&L Motors, discovers filling his petrol canisters is impossible during yesterday’s power cut. PHOTO: TONI MCDONALD
    A duck flying into power lines has been blamed for a power cut which hit Invercargill’s CBD yesterday.

    About 9.45am, electricity was cut, affecting houses, shops and businesses in the CBD as well as further afield, including Otatara.

    A PowerNet spokeswoman initially said the outage occurred after a power pole went down near the recycling centre about 9.30am.

    However, after further investigation, the assessment was corrected.

    "Our investigation into the cause and repairs have been completed — the outage was caused by a duck flying into power lines, not a downed power pole or lines as previously thought."

    Invercargill Neighbouring Retailers Group chairman and Shoe Clinic owner Ben Fokkens said shops in Esk St kept operating, despite the hiccup.

    "The computers and card machines are out, but we are still accepting cash so we are still open.

    PowerNet said electricity was fully restored by about 1.30pm.

    luisa.girao@odt.co.nz