The Authority’s independent report into this fire, which left some parts of Auckland without electricity for 2 days, has found that Transpower and Vector should have identified and managed the risks associated with having 38 cables located in a single trench. The inquiry report has been reviewed and endorsed by the Security and Reliability Council which comprises senior representatives from the electricity industry and consumer interest groups.

Chief Executive Carl Hansen says, “We found that Transpower and Vector had opportunities to identify and manage the risks. While both Transpower and Vector have good asset and risk management systems, these systems were not applied well enough at Penrose.”

“Since the fire, both Vector and Transpower have made good progress to address the issues raised in this report and from their own investigations. Throughout the inquiry process, both parties cooperated fully with the Authority.”

The inquiry concluded that while the cause of the fire was an electrical failure in an individual cable joint, the actual issue was the fact that so many cables were located in a single trench (a co-location risk). Since the security and integrity of the trench and cables were critical to maintaining a reliable electricity supply, this co-location risk should have been identified and managed.

The inquiry report recognises the co-location risk grew over many years as more cables were added to the trench. The Authority acknowledges it can be difficult for parties to be alert to these kinds of ‘creeping risk’ but it is nevertheless important that parties are sensitised to it. The Authority recommends that other utilities – not just electricity companies – learn from this event and undertake an evaluation of such risk.

Mr Hansen says the estimated cost of the power outage to consumers is between $47 million and $72 million. “This could have been much higher without the dedicated efforts of the Fire Service, Transpower and Vector to bring the fire under control. Vector’s communication with its customers after the event was also of a very high quality.”

The section 18 inquiry into the Penrose substation fire has been completed drawing information from Transpower and Vector’s investigation report and its report from Cable Consulting International Limited. It has been informed by the New Zealand Fire Service’s report into this event. The Authority also conducted independent research using specialist technical experts.

The Authority was initially expected to complete its inquiry by 30 April 2015 however it took much longer than expected for the cable expert to complete his investigation of the cause of the fire. Vector and Transpower gave the Authority a draft report of their findings on 24 July 2015, and a final version of their report on 5 November 2015.

The full inquiry report and background information is available at: http://www.ea.govt.nz/monitoring/enquiries-reviews-and-investigations/2014/section-18-review-of-auckland-power-outage-5-october-2014/

 

 

For more information:

Leah Chamberlin
Communications Adviser
021 073 7777

Nicky Chilton
Communications Manager
021 321 831