Electricians in OtagoBrick villas, frosty valleys and booming lakes towns.

The poles on your land may be yours

Aurora says property owners are responsible for the service line from where it crosses the boundary, including low voltage lines and poles on their land, and it recommends having them inspected every five years. PowerNet says much the same: you own the service lines, poles, cables and fuses on your side, up to an isolating fuse on the boundary or the nearest pole.

On a lifestyle block or a long driveway, that can be a fair bit of line. A licensed electrician can check it and tell you what, if anything, needs doing.

Tell Aurora before the big stuff goes in

Aurora needs an application to alter a connection, and that includes notifiable loads like EV charging, generators and heat pumps. You start with a registered electrician, who registers the job with one of Aurora's Approved Network Contractors. Aurora says you shouldn't apply direct.

That matters here: at the 2023 Census, 70.22% of Queenstown Lakes homes used a heat pump. If you're adding one, or an EV charger, get the application sorted before you buy.

Storms, old brick villas and cold valleys

The 23 October 2025 storm left more than 16,000 Aurora customers without power at its peak, mostly in Dunedin, after trees broke lines from Berwick to the tip of the Otago Peninsula. PowerNet called the same storm the biggest event in its history.

Heritage New Zealand says most of Dunedin's historic housing is villas from the 1870s on, and that the city is notable for brick houses. About 2,700 South Dunedin homes sit less than 50 cm above sea level on soft ground. In an old, damp house, an electrical inspection is a sensible first step.

Inland it's cold and growing. Alexandra averages 92 nights a year below freezing, and Queenstown Lakes went from 11,190 occupied homes in 2013 to 17,397 in 2023.

Checking who you hire

Every licensed electrical worker has a licence ID, and a digital one carries a QR code you can scan to go straight to their profile on the EWRB public register (how to check). We have local pages for Dunedin, Mosgiel, Queenstown and Wānaka.