Omexom picks up Wellington Electricity despite Northland pylon debacle

The company which was involved in a pylon toppling in Northland has been contracted as the new fault response and maintenance provider for Wellington Electricity.

The power pylon, maintained by Omexom, toppled over in June this year after workers unbolted three of its four legs at once during maintenance, leaving 88,000 consumers in Northland without power.

Wellington Electricity said it was fully aware of what had happened and had read the official report on the investigation prior to awarding the contract.

"We're satisfied that it was an isolated failure and that Omexom has dealt with it appropriately," a spokesperson said.

"Omexom themselves have been open and up front with us about this incident, including its root causes and their organisational response."

Wellington Electricity said it had chose Omexom as it offered value for money as well as the safe and efficient delivery of services to the region.

"As part of the Request For Proposal (RFP) process, Wellington Electricity thoroughly examined Omexom's ability to deliver services to the highest standards. A key factor of this process was to be satisfied that they would enable us to continue delivering safe and efficient electricity services for our customers. Omexom's proposal demonstrated this clearly," the spokesperson said.

Wellington Electricity also noted that Northland pylon was a national grid transmission tower.

In contrast, Wellington Electricity operated a distribution network and had no towers of that type.

Omexom would take over from Northpower, which had held the contract for the past 14 years, on 1 January 2025.

"Our immediate priority is to continue to keep people safe, aware, and informed, as we work with both Northpower and Omexom to facilitate a transition which ensures minimal disruption to employees and customers, while maintaining continuity of a high level of service across our network," it said.

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