Major power outage on South Island's West Coast

Major power outage on South Island's West Coast
Photo credit: Getty Images.

There is a major power outage on the west coast of the South Island.

Transpower said it lost the power supply to the West Coast at 9:22am on Thursday morning and an investigation is underway to find out the cause.

It said a technician is at the site at Kikiwa near Nelson to begin restoration and the fault has been identified.

Transpower is expecting to be able to restore the power in half an hour.

Areas without power include Murchison, Īnangahua, Reefton, Atarau, Dobson, Greymouth, Hokitika, Ōtira, Arthur's Pass, Kūmara and Roberston.

It is thanking people in the area for their patience.

Progress updates will be available on the Transpower Facebook page, it said.

RNZ