About Transpower
Transpower is the state-owned operator of New Zealand's National Grid — roughly 12,000 km of high-voltage transmission lines and 170+ substations carrying electricity from generators (Manapōuri, Huntly, hydro and wind farms) to local lines companies and a handful of large industrial users. Their assets include both overhead pylons and a number of underground transmission cables, plus the HVDC inter-island link across Cook Strait.
Transpower runs the lines and underground cables that carry electricity from the national grid into homes, farms and businesses across their service area. They are not an electricity retailer — they are the lines company that owns the network itself.
Transpower runs nationwide infrastructure, which means their cables can be present anywhere in the country. Before excavating anywhere in NZ, request a locate from Transpower alongside the local lines company, the council water network, and any other regional operators in your area.
Where Transpower operates
Transpower's assets run through every region of New Zealand. No matter where you're digging, their cables or infrastructure may be present — request a locate before starting work anywhere in the country.
Before you dig in NZ
Striking an underground cable can cause injury, large repair bills and outages for your neighbours. Three steps to do it safely.
- 1
Find every operator that serves your site
Map your worksite on UtilityFinder to find every operator that serves the area — power, water, gas and comms in one view — so you don't miss anyone when sending locate requests.
Create your map - 2
Request a locate from Transpower
Contact Transpower and any other operators in your area to confirm the position of their underground assets before excavation.
Locate request page - 3
Mark, protect, dig carefully
Mark the locate paint or pegs on site, hand-dig within 0.5 m of marked assets, and never assume a clear trench means clear ground.
Find every operator serving your site in 30 seconds
UtilityFinder shows every utility operator that serves Nationwide — power, water, gas and comms — with contact details and locate-request links in one shareable view. Plan your dig with confidence.
Create your map — free