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Power is back in most parts of Auckland after the region was hit by a major blackout on Monday causing widespread disruption.
Lines company Vector says power is now back on in all parts of the region except Penrose, the eastern suburbs, Glenn Innes and Otahuhu.
High winds caused equipment failure at Transpower's Otahuhu substation to fail at about 8.30am on Monday.
An earthwire snapped and fell across a 110-kilovolt feeder from the substation, outing four other substations and two power stations.
Spokesperson Chris Roberts says although there were high winds when the fault happened, an investigation into the incident will also look at whether metal fatigue or other factors played a part.
"It fell in a very unfortunate way and just the way it fell took out a whole lot of equipment and then because of the weather conditions and extremely high winds it took some time to remove those fallen wires in a safe manner," he says.
The cut forced some schools, business and hospitals to close, and created significant traffic delays.
Power has gradually been coming back on since about 12.30pm.
Traffic lights were out due to the power cut and police patrols encountered traffic lunacy from some motorists. They mobilised the district emergency management plan as a result of the outage.
Some telephone systems were affected and Auckland City and Middlemore Hospitals were operating for emergencies only. Businesses schools and tertiary institutions were affected and a number of court sittings were disrupted.
New Zealand Post spokesperson Richard McLean says the power cut has also affected mail processing and disrupted mail deliveries.
Strong winds and rain have made bicycle deliveries too dangerous in parts of Auckland.
Auckland City's Emergency Management Centre says the cut caused some sewage overflows and people are being asked not to do laundry or wash dishes at this stage.
The centre is also warning of power surges and the possibility of further cuts as high winds continue to batter the region.
Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard estimates it has caused problems for about 700,000 people in his area alone.
Transpower said it backfed power from parts of the network that were not affected to restore power to other areas. It aimed to have power totally restored to the CBD by mid-afternoon.
The cuts are the worst since the blackouts of 1998 when Auckland's power supply collapsed.
Back then, 60,000 central city workers and residents were affected, with many small businesses forced to close. It raised questions about the reliability of Auckland's power supply. Those questions are now being asked again.
Power failure highlights fragile system
The National Party says the power failure in Auckland shows how fragile New Zealand's transmission system has become.
National's energy spokesperson Nick Smith says it is inevitable that storms and accidents will knock down lines, but the system should be designed to always have an alternative circuit available.
He says the government has been warned for years that the level of investment in transmission has not been sufficient to keep up with growth in the upper North Island.
Energy Minister David Parker says the region's power supply needs greater security, and a second substation is needed.
Prime Minister Helen Clark says the current transmission system up from the central North Island is not up to it.
"Everybody knows it has to be upgraded. It's not a question of if, it's a question of when and to what capacity," she says.
One of the Auckland region's business organisations says the power disruption will cost firms millions of dollars.
Chief executive at the Northern Employers and Manufacturers Association, Alasdair Thompson, says it is unacceptable that a downed 110-kilovolt feeder to the the Otahuhu substation can cause such chaos.
"This is really, really bad, and it's something we want to know from Transpower - what they're going to do to fix it and make sure it doesn't happen in the future."
Thompson says this type of disruption deters firms investing in the Auckland region and he wants a full investigation into what happened to ensure it does not happen again.
Power cuts in Northland
Meantime, thousands of people in Northland were without power for short periods throughout Monday, because of lines damage in blustery conditions.
Electricity to about 5,000 houses in the Whangarei district was cut for a time, and there were outages in the Far North and the Russell Peninsula.
Most of the damage was caused by tree branches snapped by high winds, falling on lines.
Northpower says all customers should now have been reconnected.
Strong winds are forecast for the Far North again on Monday night.
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