Transpower and Omexom Class Action

Transpower and Omexom Class Action

A class action has been filed in the Wellington High Court of New Zealand against Transpower, the state-owned electricity grid operator, and its lines maintenance contractor, Omexom, arising out of a major power outage which occurred in June 2024. The class action seeks to recover losses on behalf of all Northland businesses that were impacted.

The outage was triggered when a Transpower transmission tower collapsed during routine maintenance, cutting power to homes and businesses to most of the Northland region. The contractor performing the maintenance had removed all of the nuts from at least two of the tower legs at the same time, which was subsequently acknowledged to be outside of their standard practice.

An independent review by the Electricity Authority concluded the collapse was caused by “entirely avoidable” factors, including Transpower’s inadequate procedures and deficient training, which had already been the subject of a prior internal warning by a senior engineer.

Approximately 180,000 residents and 20,000 businesses were without power – some for several days.

The case is being run by two leading law firms: Piper Alderman, in Sydney, and Lee Salmon Long (Auckland) with backing from litigation funder, Omni Bridgeway.

Business owners can register their details at and get further information and updates about the class action at: https://portal.omnibridgeway.com/transpower.