Repairs on a critical piece of electrical equipment supplying the entire Opotiki District have forced a power cut this morning.

'As owner and operator of the National Grid, Transpower needs to carry out urgent remedial work to fix a faulty insulator,” says Transpower.

'If imminent repairs are not made, this may result in an unplanned outage of an unknown duration.

'Unfortunately, this maintenance work cannot be undertaken while the line is in service.

'Power is expected to be out from 9am-5pm and affects residents and businesses in the Opotiki District from Waiotahe, Opotiki and through to Cape Runaway.

'Transpower recognises that there is never an ideal time for consumers to be without electricity and apologises for the short notice to the community for the outage.

'The issue was found during a maintenance inspection yesterday and requires immediate attention to ensure a secure supply of electricity can continue to be supplied to the area.”